Against All Odds
by deanine
Summary: If you haven't finished the game, there are spoilers. This is my story to make me feel better after seeing the ending. YunaTidus Yes Ladies and Gentlemen, that's a BIG the END. Epilogue added. : :
1. Whistling in the Wind

**_Goodbye_**

Listen when I tell you, we will never meet again

I will disappear

Vanish

See me - insubstantial like mist

I will reach for you

Untouchable

Whistle for me, I'll hear

I will sing my reply

To deaf ears

Think of me, when you dance in the ocean

When you dance for their souls

Think of me and know

I remember - love

**Chapter 1**

The ocean stretched out from the pale sandy beach of Besaid to the horizon, where the sun slowly drowned in the red stained water. Yuna, retired summoner, waded carefully out into the barely lapping surf and watched the tiny fish dart after one another in seemingly random circuits. She had discarded her traditional long-sleeved elaborate uniform for more serviceable shorts and tank top. With her light brown hair carelessly tied up, she almost looked like a carefree young woman taking a late afternoon swim. Almost. Her eyes were haunted, searching. Yuna inserted her fingers in her cheeks, just like he'd shown her, and she offered her whistle to the wind, with a prayer that it would find him in the far-plane.

"Hey Yuna, what you doing down here?" a tall burly red-head called. "The guys are going to be practicing the blitz, and I'm going to be offering some pointers. Want to watch with me?"

Yuna smiled. It was an old habit, smile even when you're hurting. Smile even if you want to scream. Wakka deserved her smile though. He was just concerned. Everyone was. "Blitz, eh? I'd love to."

Wakka met her at the water's edge and offered his arm. "We're taking out Rikku's boat. I recruited her for the team." Wakka's face was plastered in a self-satisfied grin. "I tell you, only one man I ever saw could move better than that girl under water..." He clammed up, apparently ashamed of slipping and mentioning, him.

"Tidus is gone. Please don't treat me like glass. I won't break. I promise." Yuna dropped Wakka's arm and smiled up at her tall friend. She couldn't know how much like a child she looked to Wakka out of her summoner's robes. She couldn't know how desperately he, everyone, wanted to protect her. "Should I stop by home and get some food?"

Wakka didn't comment on the sudden topic change. "Nah, Lulu is bringing some sandwiches, rice, and wontons." As they crested the hill, the dock came into sight and Wakka broke away at a run waving to the team.

Lulu's head popped out from below deck and the rest of her followed quickly. She looked different in regular clothes, tan pants and a low cut black top. Her hair was down, loosed from all its braids and ties it fell far past her waist in a shiny black curtain. Yuna waved enthusiastically. There was no need to train to guard summoners who would never summon or journey again. Her friends were free to live normal lives. It didn't even occur to her that she was included in that number. It was time for her normal life too.

It took a moment for Yuna to spot Rikku. She was wearing an oversized yellow and blue blitz uniform and was waving for all she was worth. Once she was onboard, Rikku was at her side. "Yunie, did you hear? I'm on a blitz team! I was going to try out for the Al Bhed team eventually, but Wakka was so persuasive. Besides, I'll get to hang out with my favorite cousin."

Yuna tried not to laugh but she couldn't help herself. "Couldn't they find a uniform that fits?"

Rikku pulled at the baggy uniform and shrugged. "I think it was one of Wakka's old ones." She giggled and leaned over the railing. "Will you help me cut it down later? I'm not very good with a needle."

"I thought you could make anything. Remember the Mana Mog you made Lulu while we were crouched behind a big snow pile hiding from that old machina," Yuna said. "You must have finished that mog's upgrade in three minutes."

"I did, didn't I?" Rikku's grin was genuine. "Unfortunately, I'm still no good at sewing."

"Hey, we're shoving off. Last call if you want off," Wakka called. The boat groaned a little and the engine whined a shrill complaint.

"Ack," Rikku gasped. "He's going to rip out the transmission."

Yuna smiled at the quick fight that ensued while Rikku tried to protect her delicate boat from her formerly devout Yevonite friend.

Yuna kept a firm grasp on the rail and stared down into the rapidly darkening ocean. "You seem happy enough or are you just smiling for our benefit?" Lulu asked. She had moved to Yuna's side with the silent grace of a cat and joined her looking over the edge.

Yuna's smile didn't falter. "Actually I'm smiling in puzzlement. How are these guys exactly supposed to practice in the dark?"

"Ah." Lulu flexed her fingers and grinned. "I'm providing the stadium lighting."

"You aren't going to cast Flare at them all night? Someone might get hurt." The boat jerked throwing them both into the railing pretty hard.

"Wakka, I will hurt you if you break my boat," Rikku cried.

"I'm not breaking it. I just have to get the feel of her," Wakka shouted back.

Rikku turned toward Yuna and Lulu with a desperate look then rounded back into Wakka. "If you break it, you're buying the parts to fix it." Rikku left Wakka to toy with her boat and plopped down in the middle of the blitz team with her comically oversized uniform ballooning around her tiny frame. "Big jerk, can't believe he talked me into anything. Next time, sleep grenade, then we'll see who's piloting the boat." Rikku smiled too herself. Their Wakka was actually fighting to pilot a machina.

Yuna turned toward the stars. Tidus would love this. He'd be in the middle of the team crowing about their eminent victories. Or maybe, maybe he'd be at the rail with his arms around her looking at the stars and whispering to her about his Zanarkand.

"We're here boys and girls," Wakka called. The boats motor died too abruptly and Rikku could be heard grumbling from the pack of players. "Hey Lulu, we're ready for the light show."

Lulu patted Yuna's arm. "Come watch will you? This should be pretty." Lulu pushed her long loose sleeves up past her elbows and made her way up onto the platform at the tip of the bow. Her arms, so pale that her skin appeared translucent, moved in gentle sweeping circles around her body and she whispered a spell. First one then five then a thousand tiny dancing lights swayed with the movements of her arms. Lulu slowly dropped her hands and the mystical lights dove into the ocean in and around the boat.

Yuna gazed over the side of the boat and gasped at the beautiful dance of light. Much of the marine life was fleeing the strange pyrotechnic display, but the water was clear and blue all the way to the ocean floor.

"Okay, I want all the blitz players in the water right now. Show Rikku how Besaid plays," Wakka called.

Yuna made her way over to Lulu. Lulu hooked her arm with her friend's and drew Yuna close. "That was wonderful," Yuna whispered. "All this just to practice Blitz-Ball?"

"And to celebrate," Lulu said. "It is a very important day."

"We didn't want you to hear about Kimahri form anyone else. Wakka wanted to surprise you," Rikku said. She was the last Blitz player still on deck. The mischievous grin on her face suggested that the surprise might have been her idea a little.

"Kimahri is back?" Yuna's face lit up and she spun around. "Did he make his peace with the Ronso? Is he okay?"

"He's not back," Lulu said. "He made his peace. They made him Maester."

"Oh." Yuna's smile was a little delayed. Her Kimahri was gone too. He had almost been like a father, always watching over her, always there. When her smile finally came it was brilliant. "That's wonderful." Yuna wanted to scream. They were so close, but they were slipping away. Everyone was moving on with their lives. They were all ready to forget, to just live.

"I'm not ready to forget. I'm not through grieving," Yuna wanted to shout.

Instead she watched the Besaid Blitz team. She watched and she smiled and inside, she dreamed of things she could never have.


	2. Jenquo! Jenquo!

Chapter 2

Rikku stretched her thoroughly worked muscles and shook the ocean water out of her short blond hair. She had discarded the oversized blitz-uniform, for her dry clothes and was about to settle down next to her cousin to nap, when a she spotted a huge fire. "Hey Yunie, look at that," Rikku said. She nudged her dozing cousin and leaned over the rail of the boat. The familiar coast-line of Besaid should have been empty and black except for the small signal fires marking the empty ports, but a dozen colorfully sailed boats were anchored at the small harbor and bright fires dotted the beach. "The Jenquo!"

Yuna blinked the sleep out of her eyes and stared at the unfamiliar ships. "Jenquo? They've never come to Besaid before."

"Never!" Rikku gasped dramatically and leaned conspiratorially close to Yuna. "You've never had Jenquo black bean soup? Never had your fortune told by an old mother? I can't believe it!"

"Bunch of nomadic swindlers, can't believe they're muddying up Besaid waters," Wakka called from the steering area. His voice fairly dripped disdain. The boat was actually skimming along smoothly for a change. Rikku spun on Wakka and shook her finger at him.

"Hey mister, the Jenquo are a good group of people. They've always been willing to associate with the Al Bhed, even when certain religious groups were calling us evil heathens," Rikku said. "It's like a nonstop party when they're around."

Yuna nodded. "They sound like a lot of fun."

"Oh don't say it like that." Rikku pulled her cousin to her feet. "It really is great. They do productions, grand dances and plays. Sometimes they hold games, like a regular harvest festival or something."

"Yeah and they swindle you out of every coin you got too," Wakka called belligerently.

"Don't listen to him," Rikku said.

Yuna nodded, barely listening to either of them. They were close now. The boat's sails had appeared merely colorful from a distance, up close they were works of art. Scenes in magnificent reds and azures, gold and silver, were set off by the full moon's light. "The pictures on the sails. They're beautiful," Yuna whispered.

"They tell a story. Each ship has its own Jenquo tale," Rikku said. "When I was a little girl and the Jenquo were in town, I'd sit around the docks all day with my cousins and listen to their stories. Some were sad or adventurous or even romantic."

"Amazing stories?" Yuna asked. Were they as amazing as a walking, talking, touchable dream, as romantic as a hero from the long dead city of Zanarkand? They couldn't be more tragic than a lover who faded to mist and vanished with a wave of a summoner's staff.

"I'll just have to show you," Rikku said. "Come on, let's swim for it. Wakka will be all-night finding a place to dock this big thing."

Yuna hesitated. "I'm not a great swimmer."

"It isn't far. I'll watch out for you," Rikku said.

_Tidus would jump off the ship and check things out._ "Why not," Yuna said. Her smile was almost devil-may-care except for the nervousness dancing beneath the surface.

"Okay then." Rikku turned on Wakka. "Hey, don't run over us! We're going to have a little fun."

Wakka killed the engine on the already slow moving vessel. "Hey what if this thing breaks down?"

Rikku shrugged. "Don't break it."

Yuna gasped when she hit the water it was just cool enough to make her shiver. Rikku was in the water a moment later, lazily kicking on her back toward the nearest Jenquo ship. "If you need help or anything just wail and thrash around, okay?" Rikku said.

Yuna snorted and executed a passable breast stroke in Rikku's wake. "I'm not as useless as all that, am I?"

Rikku laughed and kicked hard splashing Yuna square in the face. "Not useless, but you are a little too serious these days. You have to lighten up a little."

Yuna sputtered and blinked the sea water out of her eyes. "You're going to pay for that." A barrage of waves ensued in a mini-water war off the port bow of a nearby Jenquo vessel.

Rikku started to laugh at Yuna's wild splashing technique, but that earned her a mouth and nose full of seawater. What might have been a complaint came out as a gurgle, and Rikku started taking the water war more seriously. She turned away from Yuna and started using her feet as a paddle wheel. "Haha, take that," Rikku shouted.

"Time Out!" Yuna hissed.

Rikku kept splashing for several seconds after the time out was called and then she broke down laughing. "You give up?" Rikku gasped.

"Just for now. We have an audience," Yuna whispered.

A small group of young men were gathered along the railing of the Jenquo ship. They were all dark haired, with deep bronze tans. Each wore a different wildly colored outfit. Some wore deep purple or orange or even pink. One of the men stood out, he was taller than the rest, with dark, nearly black eyes, that fairly danced with merriment. "Look a' tha' boys. A couple'a mermaids done swam right up to our lil' vessel."

"Not mermaids!" Rikku called. "An old Al Bhed friend and her cousin."

Several of the young men perked up further. Maybe Besaid hadn't rolled out the red carpet for her unusual visitors. "Al Bhed, you say? Throw those girls a line, gentlemen," the taller man said. The six sailors made short work of pulling Rikku and Yuna onboard.

Rikku leaned back and stared at the sails for a long moment. "I've seen this ship before. Solomon's Journey, right?"

"Correct," the tall man said. A wide grin split his face. "I think I remember you. All knees and elbows... Rikku?"

Rikku practically glowed with delight. "You remember me?" As quickly as she'd sparkled, she wilted. "I don't remember you though. Now I feel terrible."

The man laughed and pointed up to the sails. "You remember the boy who told you about old Solomon?"

"Aldon?" Rikku said. "No way, you're ears were so... and oh nevermind."

Yuna tried not to feel too awkward as the two old friends embraced and chatted about old times. It gave her a moment to examine her surroundings anyway. The Jenquo boat smelled light and spicy. The sails were trimmed, so that whatever Solomon's journey normally was, tonight it was truncated to an older man facing what appeared to be a desert.

"I can't believe I didn't introduce you guys. Yuna this is Aldon, Aldon, Yuna." Rikku was quick to move back to Yuna's side.

Aldon immediately dropped to his knees. "Down," he barked to the other men.

"Woah, what did we do?" Rikku said.

Yuna had a sickening feeling she knew. People were so grateful and deferential and it was all just too much. This was a fun moment with her cousin, out exploring. She didn't need or want anyone's adulation. "Stand up, please. If this is for my benefit, it's unnecessary."

"You are the lady Summoner, Yuna. You killed Sin. The Jenquo have sent us to pay you a high honor." Aldon slowly returned to his feet but the other men stayed down. "We would like to build a ship of Besaid wood to be named Yuna's Pilgrimage. We would like to hear your story from you, so that we can tell it to our children accurately."

"It isn't my story," Yuna whispered. "I didn't kill Sin. Me and my guardians fought Sin together. If it was anyone's story it was his, Tidus's." This ship they proposed, Tidus would live forever as a part of their legends. "If you'd like, I'll tell you his story."

Aldon nodded solemnly. "Not to me though lady. Tell your story to one of our tellers, and not tonight by any means. There's a full out festival beginning on the beach. Please, you and Rikku, go and be our honored guests."


	3. Take a Chance and Make a Wish

Chapter 3

After the run in with Aldon, the night seemed to fly by in a blur of bean soup and dancing and games. Yuna laughed as a small group of children tumbled gracefully through amazing gymnastic feats. The little coins the crowd had given them jingled in their buttoned pockets and sparkled from braids in their hair. Yuna tossed some coins to the tumblers and wandered into a large canvas tent with an ostentatious sigh declaring it "The Tent of Wondrous Oddities".

"Prepare to be amazed!" a tall man announced. Yuna tried to crane her head to see over the crowd and be amazed, but Rikku grabbed her arm and collapsed into her side giggling.

"Yunie, follow me!" Rikku half-led and half-dragged Yuna from the "Tent of Wondrous Oddities" and into a tattered older tent nearby. "Be veeeery quiet," she whispered. Her words weren't quite as clipped as usual, and Yuna suspected that her dear cousin had imbibed in a bit too much ale.

"Can I help you?" a tiny whithered gray woman asked. Her dry claw-like hands folded together over a rose and maroon skirt. It was a young woman's skirt on a skeleton of a hag and the sight left Yuna with a strange sour taste in her mouth. Or maybe the sour taste was just the ale.

The little tent was draped in layers of gauzy material dyed different shades of red. There were little pieces of furniture here and there, a small cabinet was almost hidden in a corner. The furnishings didn't seem to belong, they were too solid in a room that was otherwise cloudlike and dim. It was like walking through a thick red fog.

"We're here for a reading. My cousin has never had her future cast," Rikku said. "I have plenty of coin."

"Leave us alone then girl. Her future is between her and me," the old woman said. Rikku paused long enough to wish her cousin luck and slipped out of the tent. The woman nodded to a low stool sitting very close to her own chair and Yuna took a seat on it. "My name is Nual, and you are the summoner Yuna."

"How do you...?"

The woman held up one of her gnarled hands and shook her head slowly. "I know many things." Nual smiled, a sly knowing curl of her lips. "You loved a dream. You lost him." The woman placed one of her gnarled hands against Yuna's soft face. "I know you aren't living your life. You haven't let go."

"Is this where you tell me to get over it?" Yuna whispered. "Don't bother. I don't need to hear that from you or anybody. I'll grieve in my own way and my own time."

Nual brought her other hand up and framed Yuna's face between her long gristly fingers. "I know better than that." Her eyes had always been half-closed, unnotable, but now Nual opened them both and stared into Yuna's. The old woman might have been faded and dry, but her eyes shone with power and intelligence. A purple light almost seemed to spark and dance in her pupils. Yuna tried to pull away but Nual held fast. "You want him back? You do don't you? Do you know the cost of that? Of course you don't. Do you know the way of it, no." Nual released Yuna and sat back. "But you want it."

Once freed of the old hag's grip, Yuna raced out of the tent, like a wild animal freed from a trap. She sucked in lungfuls of the cool evening air and tried to erase the memory of the woman's horrible dry hands on her cheeks. "You want him back?" the old woman's words echoed in her head. Of course she wanted him back, but it couldn't be. He was gone. Didn't she know, there wasn't any price to pay because it wasn't possible. "Was it possible?"

Against her better judgement, Yuna pulled back the tent flap and headed back into the tiny dim enclosure. "Miss Nual? What did you mean... what you said before..."

The old woman had withdrawn to a dark corner where she was rummaging through a cabinet. "Do you love him?"

"Can't you tell? You could tell everything else," Yuna said. Her voice waivered indecisively. "Can't you tell?"

"Did he love you? Really love you?" the woman asked. Her voice had a shrill note of anxiety to it.

Yuna's heart was beating quickly and an emotion she hardly recognized as hope sprang to life in her chest. "He did. I know he did."

Nual slowly straighten and turned toward Yuna. "I can give him back to you, but there will be a price to pay. You saved Spira from sin, so I'll pay half the price, but you will have to pay the rest."

"Anything," Yuna whispered. "If you can really do this..." A small voice inside her head was screaming that tampering with the dead and the farplane was wrong, that she should let Tidus go and just live. She should let him rest in peace. "I'd give anything."

"Half your soul? Would you give that?" Nual asked.

Yuna brought her hand to her chest. "It wouldn't be a half-life like sir Auron. He wouldn't become a lost spirit."

"He would be as real as you or me," Nual whispered. "Just be sure to guard the rest of your soul. They're resilient things, but you shouldn't ask too much of yours unless you want to become a lost spirit someday."

"Half my soul?" Yuna could see Tidus, sad and torn, before he jumped from the airship and out of her life. When she exorcised, freed, the faiths she'd killed him. How could she not bring him back, if it was possible. "Do it then," Yuna whispered. "I'll pay your price. Just do it."

"Take my hand," the old woman hissed. "Now close your eyes."

Yuna could feel the claw-like hand biting into her soft flesh and she almost cried out. For a moment she was hot, immediately followed by a moment of violence she hardly recognized and couldn't quite quantify. Then her hand was free. "I feel cold," she whispered. Slowly she opened her eyes and blinked until her vision cleared. It felt like someone had drained all the energy out of her body. Then she saw the old woman, Nual, had collapsed into a brightly clothed pile. "Oh God, are you okay? What should I do?" Yuna tried to gently awaken her.

Nual opened her eyes and smiled a black snaggle-toothed grin. "I'm not gone yet. Here, take it." She thrust a tiny glowing sphere into Yuna's hands. "Make your wish. But then you have to find him. He will return to Spira, with no knowledge of who he is." Nual flinched in apparent pain. "There is more. A danger. If you don't find him... risk..." She screamed and wrapped one gnarled fist around Yuna's shirt. Nual pulled her close as though proximity would help her utter her last warning. "Risk losing... soul to them..." The last words were barely whispers on her lips and the old mother, Nual slipped from the world.

For a moment of indecision, Yuna hovered over the still body of the old mother, but there was nothing she could do. This time when Yuna fled the small tent she didn't look back. It wasn't real. What that woman said, had done. It was impossible. Her walk quickly advanced to a run as she tried to escape the rowdy little carnival. It seemed like she ran forever along the beach before she was away from the light and laughter.

Yuna sank down to her knees and pulled out the tiny sphere the woman had given her. It wouldn't even make a plum, it was so small, but it glowed with a life all it's own. "The power of our souls, bound together into this." Was it possible? "Why would you give your life for this?" The dead old woman would never be able to answer that question and Yuna let it go.

Of all people, a former summoner could recognize the power of a fayth, and that's what this sphere was. Different than any fayth which had come before it, but a fayth none the less. Could it really grant her wish?

"I want this," she whispered to the sea. She crawled forward until the tide was churning over her legs and splashing her face. "I won't ever ask for anything else. Only bring Tidus back to me!" Yuna held the tiny sphere tight and prayed.

A voice inside her head whispered. "You'll have to let it go now."

Yuna opened her eyes and slowly unclenched her fists. The tiny fayth sluggishly flew up off her hand a centimeter, then two. It hovered and glowed for a few seconds longer then it flew straight up out of sight.

"Fly true," Yuna called. "I'll find you. Where ever in Spira you are, I'm coming." She positioned her fingers and whistled.


	4. Rebirth

Chapter 4

Tidus didn't like being dead. Most of the spirits were content or even happy. They had their family and friends and occasionally they would brush aside the spectral ethers and take a peek at the friends and family they'd left behind. Granted, between the old man, Auron, his mother and Lord Braska, Tidus didn't have any reason to be lonely. He wasn't alone. They just weren't...

"Watching Yuna again?" Auron asked.

Tidus jumped guiltily and allowed the vapors separating the farplane from reality to slip back into place. "She was whistling again."

"Do we have to discuss this every day?" Auron half-smiled and turned to survey the expanse of fluffy afterlife. "It isn't healthy to dwell on what you can't have. You'll never lose that restlessness and find peace if you keep looking backwards this way," Auron said.

"Being dead, I'd hoped to avoid any more lectures on my health." Auron didn't bite on the sarcasm and Tidus threw his hands up. "I just can't stand the way she's hurting. I feel like I abandoned her. She's calling out to me every day."

"You didn't abandon her. There wasn't any other way. You know that," Auron said.

It was hard to argue with the truth. "What about peace and you Auron? Why are you still watching me?"

"I watch, because I care. It gives me peace to watch over you," Auron said.

"What are you going to do when I settle down and become contented?" Tidus asked. He smiled and punched Auron's shoulder playfully.

"Something tells me, I have a long wait. Now come on. Some spirits are trying to get a game of blitzball together, and your mother wants to see a father son team-up."

Tidus grinned. "We'll plaster whoever tries..." He turned back to the spot of ether he'd just closed. It was swirling. "Do you hear that?"

Auron's first instinct was to protect Tidus. He tried to put himself between the anomaly and his friend but an energy wave brushed him aside.

_I want this. _

"Yuna?" Tidus said. He stared at the swirling point and tried to move back, but it followed him. "That sounded like Yuna, Auron."

"Dear Yevon," Auron whispered. The swirling anomaly was literally pulling at the whisps of Tidus's spirit.

_I won't ever ask for anything else. Only bring Tidus back to me! _

In an instant the anomaly was gone, as was Tidus. Auron rushed forward to the last spot he'd seen his friend and he carefully brushed back the purplish cloudy ether to see the real world. Yuna was on a beach staring off into the evening sky, whistling. "What have you done girl," Auron whispered. "What the Hell have you done?"

* * *

Being stripped from heaven and throw back into reality is not a kind or beautiful thing. In a moment Tidus went through a hundred emotions: fear, happiness, confusion, and everything in between. He passed from an almost peaceful spirit to a very confused, free-falling amnesiac in that one instant. When he finally hit the ocean, it wasn't his most graceful entry, and considering his velocity, it's a wonder he survived the impact.

"Izac, did you see that?" a pale older woman in a simple plaid dress asked. Her sunken eyes remained fixed on the spot in the ocean where she'd last seen the strange anomaly.

"I sure did, ma," a rather tall, dull-looking fellow replied. He brushed his thinning brown hair back and scratched his oil-encrusted brow. "Guy just fell out of the sky over the mining site."

"I know that. Get the boat out there and see if he needs some help," the woman ordered. She clapped her hands for emphasis.

"Yes, 'um," Izac said. He folded his lanky frame into the little powerboat tied to their main vessel and headed out to the site of impact. The bright yellow and blue were an excellent marker and Izac had no trouble finding his target. Tidus was floating motionless, face down in the water. "I'm gonna get 'em Ma." Izac hooked an arm under Tidus's and with surprising skill slid him safely into the boat. "I'm not sure he's breathing ma!"

"Breath for him a little, you idiot," she called. Disgust with the mentally impaired, Izac, was written in every line on her stern face.

"All right then," Izac said. He smiled nervously revealing a double row of extremely yellow teeth. He managed to get two good puffs down Tidus, before he started breathing for himself. "He's coughing and gurgling like Lizzy did, when you got through breathing for her, Ma."

"Good, come on back here. We'll see what the stranger has to say for himself," the woman said. "We'll see what he can afford to pay, for a couple of good Samaritans saving his life."

"I don't know, Ma. He just fell outta the sky. What if he can't pay?" Izac said.

"There's always a way to pay, darling. It's just easier if you have money," she said. "Hand him up to me, baby." The woman was older but strong. She took Tidus from her son with barely a grunt. She ran her hands slowly over his body, looking for broken bones, or wounds, or money. "No money, no broken bones, and no obvious injuries. I think we've found ourselves a miner."

"A miner, Ma? Want me to get the log book?" Izac said.

"Get my book, honey. I'll starting totaling up what our friend here owes us," she said with a crooked grin. "Get those fancy clothes off him when you get back. They'll bring something at market. We'll put it toward his bill."

* * *

When Tidus finally opened his eyes on the world again, he was crammed into a tiny bunk, surrounded by the smell of unwashed bodies. The nearest human was less than a foot away and he could see a louse crawling across his neighbor's grease streaked arm.

"Hey, new guy's awake," an older man whispered to his right. "Got any news, new guy?"

"There hasn't been a new guy in two years nearly," another fellow called. "Any of the summoners getting close to bringing a calm? We haven't seen any sin spawn in nearly a year."

"Are we in a calm?" a different man called.

Sinspawn? Calm? "I don't know." The words seemed familiar, but everything was hazy. Why were they asking him questions, he didn't have answers to? Who were they? Who was he? A rushing noise seemed to fill Tidus's head.

"Hey, did Izac knock you upside the head, man?" a youngish black man asked.

"I don't remember anything." Tidus scratched at his chest. The course brown material of his tunic was stiff with dirt and he could feel the lice, crawling in it, on him. Panic was in his eyes and his voice. It was screaming in his ears. "Where is this? Who are all of you? Who am I?" The dirty faces staring at him in the dark seemed grotesque and inhuman. Tidus would have retreated, away from the crowd, but he was surrounded. There was nowhere to run. "Someone? Help me?" Tidus could feel a scream growing in the back of his throat.

"Shut the Hell up man. You're okay, man." It was the black man again. He was smiling and trying to keep things calm. "I'm Hershey. You having a hard time remembering your name?" Tidus nodded slowly. "Well buddy, don't worry. We'll think of something to call you. Bottomline, you either had a run-in with Sin and are having one heck of a toxicity trip, or our favorite imbecile clocked you too hard upside the head. Either way, you here, and you ain't going nowhere."

"Where is here?" Tidus whispered. The terror and confusion, which threatened to overwhelm him, began to feel less immediate almost unimportant. His mind began to protect itself with numbness.

"Here... is Hell," one of the old men replied.

"That's right brother," Hershey said. "I bet you didn't know that Hell was a backwater Al Bhed mining operation."

"I'm a miner?" Tidus asked. His voice sounded distant to himself.

"You are now. Stay strong and healthy, you'll live to be a good miner, maybe even get free of this mess eventually," Hershey said. "Get crazy, get weak, let them get to you, and it's over, you dead, understand?"

"No."

"You will." Hershey settled down into a nearby bunk. "Stay close to me tomorrow. I'll try and keep you alive."

"Why would you help me?" Tidus said. No one else was volunteering to help, or even seemed concerned beyond the fact that he didn't remember any news for them.

"You owe me new guy. I'll be calling on a favor one of these days, and you'll help me out. Don't ever forget it. You owe me."


	5. The Aftermath

Chapter 5

Rikku pushed her little pair of yellow tinted sunglasses up on her nose and massaged her temples slowly. "Could you yell a little quieter?" she whispered. Her two friends were looking none too friendly this morning. Wakka kept staring at her in his patented, I am socially and morally superior mode, and Lulu just looked annoyed. The remains of the Jenquo festival were strewn up and down the beach, along with quite a few unconscious villagers.

"What, did you both get drunk, Rikku? At least you made it home. What kind of state was Yuna in when you abandoned her in that crazy party?" Wakka shouted. Rikku's wince of pain didn't even phase him. "Anything could have, and probably did happen. Yuna hasn't been herself lately. I thought you knew enough to look out for her, keep her safe. Just cause we aren't on a pilgrimage doesn't mean we stop watching each other's backs!"

"Wakka." The quiet word and a touch from Lulu was enough to silence him for a moment. "She is not a child. They went to a party and apparently had a good time. Yuna's probably asleep on this beach somewhere."

"Where anything could have happened to her!" Wakka pouted.

Rikku groaned and covered her ears. "Let's go find her, okay? Then you can yell at her for a while and let me recover."

"Let's go. Wakka, we're going this way. Most of the partying went on this way. Rikku head that way. Give a shout if you find her," Lulu said. She started off down the beach pulling Wakka along with her.

"I'm not finished with you!" Wakka shouted over his shoulder. "I'll talk to Cid about this! I'm sure you're dad would love to hear about you're partying lifestyle!"

Rikku sighed and trudged blearily up the beach, occasionally stopping to take a closer look at an unconscious villager. The sun seemed way too bright for springtime, and honestly Rikku just wanted to crawl back in bed and sleep for about two days. She stopped to splash some of the cool seawater over her face and turned to peer up the beach. She'd stopped seeing debris from the festival around fifty feet back. It was probably pointless to continue the way she was headed. "The farther this way I head, the farther from Wakka and his big mouth I get." Rikku grinned impressed with her own logic and trudged on.

"Hey," Rikku said. She waved at a figure just visible up the beach. The person didn't appear to have heard her over the waves and Rikku wasn't willing to shout quite yet. Instead she trudged on. They could probably tell her if there were any party-goers farther up. She continued on with her eyes trained on her feet, slitted just wide enough to keep her from tripping.

"Rikku, did you come looking for me?"

"Woah," Rikku gasped. The figure from up the beach had apparently spotted her, and surprise of surprises, it was Yuna. "Yunie? Where have you been. Wakka gave me heck this morning when he realized you didn't come home at all last night." Rikku had been going to launch into a long list of her woes, not the least of which was her killer hangover, when she got a good look at Yuna. "Oh Yunie, are you okay?" The former summoner was pale, almost gray, and there were huge dark circles under her eyes. She looked like a ghost.

Yuna smiled the most genuine smile she'd been able to produce in nearly a year. "I feel terrible, but I feel great too."

"What happened? Are you sick? You weren't drinking when we split up," Rikku said. She wrapped her arm around Yuna protectively and started rubbing her pale goose-bump covered arms. "You're an ice cube." She was trying to herd her cousin back toward the village but Yuna wouldn't move.

"I have to tell you what happened last night. I'm glad you didn't bring Wakka, or even Lulu. I don't think they'd understand." Yuna settled herself on the white sand and stared out over the ocean. She seemed detached, like part of her were far away.

Rikku was torn. She was supposed to let Wakka and Lulu know the moment she found Yuna. "Okay, but we have to make it quick. Wakka would just love another reason to tear into me, and he's looking for you right now."

"The quick version? Is there a quick version...?" Yuna closed her eyes and nodded. "Tidus is back. The old Jenquo woman, Nual, brought him back."

Rikku shook her head slowly. "Yunie, she couldn't have. He's gone, remember? Whatever that old woman did, she couldn't have done that." Why would that woman mess with Yuna's head like that? Rikku had never been really angry with a Jenquo custom before, but this was just cruel and destructive.

"No, listen," Yuna said. She took one of Rikku's hands and wrapped it in her two cold ones. "We made a tiny fayth, one part Nual's soul and one part mine. It killed her." Yuna paused and the detachment broke for a moment. "I didn't ask her to do it, Rikku. I didn't ask. I swear. She offered and she never said it would kill her."

"Nah Yunie, you imagined it." Rikku looked Yuna straight in the eyes. "You can't just bring people back from the dead and Tidus is dead."

Yuna didn't look away. "It was a unique little fayth that we made, powerful and simple. I used it to bring him back. I resurrected him. Trust me, Rikku. I have used several faiths in my life. I know what a fayth is. I know what I did."

Rikku started to argue but there was a strange certainty to Yuna's voice that was a little scary. Was it possible? They'd done some pretty amazing things. "Are you going to be okay though? You used part of your soul... Yunie, if you brought him back, where is he then?"

Yuna shrugged. "He's somewhere in Spira, and he doesn't remember anything." Tears started pooling in her eyes. "He's alone, Rikku. We have to find him. The old woman said something bad would happen if we don't find him."

Rikku felt chill bumps rising on her arms, despite the rapidly warming beach. "Something bad?"

"She was dying, and she didn't finish saying," Yuna whispered. "I guess it just means we'll have to hurry and find him so nothing bad can happen."

"No honey, we're going to the Jenquo. With a fleet this big, they'll have another old mother. We'll ask her about what happened. Let's hurry before Wakka and Lulu come back around. I'm not even ready to try and explain this to those two," Rikku said. She bounced to her feet. "We'll find out exactly what we're dealing with, okay?" Yuna let Rikku lead her down the beach without argument. "My old bud, Aldon, will help us out." She pointed to a ship they were rapidly approaching. "See there's the Solomon right there."

Yuna balked at the ladder onto the Solomon. "First promise me, promise you'll help me find Tidus."

Rikku wasn't absolutely convinced there was a Tidus to find, but she nodded. "If he really is back, we will find him."

"He is, and we have to," Yuna said.

Rikku tried not to worry, but Yuna looked like death. Whatever this resurrection had cost her, hopefully it wasn't a permanent loss. She enfolded Yuna in a hug. "I promise, I'm going to take care of you cuz. Come on."

* * *

"If it isn't old 'knees and elbows' herself, back again," a very tired looking Aldon announced. He was only half dressed with his shirt hanging open and his boots missing. His cheeks were covered in a fine stubble. "I knew you wouldn't be able to stay away for long." He leaned over the edge of the boat and grinned, showing all his teeth. Gazing down at Rikku, his deep dark eyes were sparkling with something more than amusement.

"You look like you had fun last night. Thought you'd still be asleep," Rikku said.

"Oh I would be, but I have responsibilities that happen to include getting up at the crack of dawn. I'm a little late this morning, but so's everyone. I was about to take a swim, and wash the last of that alcohol out of my pores." His grin took on a strikingly flirtatious tone. "Would you be interested in joining me?"

Rikku hardly cracked a smile. "Any other day, I'd bust your chops for getting saucy with me, but I need your help this morning so I'll let it slide."

Aldon didn't appear in the least worried about getting his chops busted. "Come on up then. Is that your cousin behind you again this morning?" Aldon yawned dramatically as the ladies pulled themselves onboard. He took one look at Yuna and froze. He muttered an unintelligible curse under his breath and tried not to stare. "Are you okay, Lady Yuna?"

"No she's not okay, you big jerk. I took her to get her fortune told last night, and one of your old mother's ran her through the wringer," Rikku said. "I want an audience with an old mother first thing this morning, and I mean right now, to discuss what went on last night."

"I'll get Nual, she's our most experienced old mother. She'll have a long talk with whoever hurt the summoner. I'll make sure something's done," Aldon said. "Everyone was supposed to be on their best behavior last night."

Rikku shook her head emphatically. "Absolutely not, get us up with the second most experienced one you've got. No Nual." Rikku decided against mentioning that Yuna had claimed old mother Nual was dead.

Aldon frowned and waited for an explanation. He'd offered to fetch her the best? Was Nual involved in this? Rikku just tilted her head up and waited. "Okay? Lady Ina just finished her training, so she isn't that old yet, but she's sleeping below deck here. It wouldn't take a second to fetch her," Aldon offered. He kept stealing looks at Yuna and his concern seemed genuine.

Rikku nodded her consent. She turned to Yuna and half-forced her to take a seat on the stairs to the next higher deck. "You don't need to be on your feet." Rikku tapped her foot and waited for several seconds, before she started pacing. "He said it wouldn't take a second," Rikku snapped.

"Give the woman five minutes to get dressed. She probably partied as hard as you did last night," Yuna said.

Rikku paused. "Probably, I'm just freaked out."

They didn't hear the arrival of the lady Ina. The glitter of the beads in her hair and on her dress heralded her arrival. "Someone hurt the summoner Yuna?" The woman turned to Aldon, who was standing over her shoulder. "One of the mothers?"

He threw his hands up. "Hey, Rikku wouldn't lie. One of the mothers messed with her. She looks like a sinspawn chewed her up and spat her out." Rikku shot Aldon a nasty look for that comment. He shrugged and mouthed silently, "It's true."

Yuna examined the woman through the slots of the stairs' railings. She was dressed a lot like the old woman, Nual, had been, but she was younger, hardly middle aged, though silver twined prematurely through her otherwise jet black hair.

"Girls, I'm the old mother Ina. Would you come here Yuna?" Yuna came to her feet and turned to face Ina. The woman's casual curiosity seemed to vanish and all the color drained out of her face. "Come." She touched Yuna gently over her face and arms. Ina's breaths were irregular and shallow as though the air were unpleasant to breath. Finally she moved back, but her smile was brittle. "You're okay. I want you to go below deck with Aldon. He'll take you to my room where you can get some sleep. You must be exhausted."

"Hey, she has a bed at the villiage..." A sharp look from Ina, stopped Rikku's protest cold.

Yuna just took a deep breath. "I am so very tired. I couldn't sleep last night."

It wasn't until Aldon took Yuna's arm and led her below deck, that Ina spoke again. "It was mother Nual, wasn't it?" Ina nodded to herself. "I knew there was a reason she wanted to come on this journey. She had to try it before she died, to Hell with the risks, to Hell with the natural order. I could just wring her neck, but I imagine she's already dead."

"Yuna said she died last night. She also said that together they resurrected this guy Tidus, so I'm not sure the information is reliable." Rikku shrugged and waited for Ina to scoff at the resurrection claim.

"You'd better believe they resurrected someone, but the risk... It should never be done." Ina crossed her arms over her chest and stared out over the ocean. "They'll just have to find each other quickly. The Jenquo will help as much as we can, since we started this."

"A resurection?" Aldon said. He propped himself in the doorframe to below deck and glared at Ina. "Who resurrected who, and why did it hurt the summoner we came here to bloody well honor?"

Ina winced and cut her eyes away from the young man glaring at her. "I know you don't like the old mothers, and what we stand for, but I didn't do this. Nual did. None of us wanted her to but she did anyway."

"Wait, this was something planned? Nual came here planning to hurt that girl and you didn't tell anyone?" Aldon snapped. "Cousin or no, Ina, I will turn you in for this."

"You don't understand. It wasn't the summoner she was targeting," Ina said. She shook her head and her shoulders slumped. "I don't know if you can understand."

Rikku moved closer to Ina. "Explain it to me. Help me understand. I thought old mothers just told fortunes and made poultices."

"Let me try and explain," Ina began. "Old mothers, to enter the training you have to have at least one intimate experience with death. I was attacked by a stinging-ray fish three years ago. I hovered near death for some time before I was nursed back. Nual offered to train me afterwards." She fingered some of the white strands of her hair. "We can see little glimpses of possible futures, but mostly we can see the truth about now. Some are better at this profession than others. We really don't do much of anything besides make poultices and tell a few harmless futures."

"And resurrect people," Aldon added. "Why did Nual do this?"

Ina shrugged. "Because she could. She's wanted to beat death, to cheat it just once for as long ak I've known her."

"Why?" Rikku echoed. "I don't understand."

"I don't either really. I trained under her. I loved her... I was afraid of her." Ina said. "What I've heard is mostly second hand. You see, Nual entered the training long before I was born. According to some, she and her family, a husband, three boys, and a baby girl, were attacked by sin spawn. They died. She lived and hated herself for that."

"Beating death was her life's work. She didn't want to live forever. She didn't want anyone to bring her back. She wanted a second chance for someone, anyone. It was her life's work." Ina folded her arms together and stared at the deck. "She taught me how she'd do it, the risks, the consequences, just in case she didn't live to try it. She hoped I might some day attempt it. It was her fondest wish, her only reason to continue on."

Rikku felt the chill bumps rising on her arms again. "Everyone keeps bringing up risks, but nobody ever says what they are. Quite frankly, If Yuna's okay and Tidus really is back then I'm happy for them. Nual did a good thing if that's all there is to this, but there's more isn't there? Yuna mentioned a risk that Nual didn't quiet manage to tell her about before she died. What's going to happen if we can't find Tidus?"

"You need to know I suppose." Ina took a deep breath. "Tidus was dead. Then Yuna gave a large part of her soul to create the special fayth used to resurrect him. Now both Yuna and Tidus have strong ties to death. Unless those ties can be severed, death will reclaim them, but more than that, they will never reach the farplane in their current condition." Ina couldn't look Rikku in the eye. "There is no Hell, unless you count that tiny place in between the afterlife and the living. It is inescapable and immutable. To die now would be a catastrophe."

"Yevon," Aldon hissed. "You've killed the summoner who saved Spira. I'll not have you or any of your kind on my boat any longer Ina and I will bring this to council. You witches mucking around with death and making your proclamations about the future. I won't stand around and just take it anymore. I can't believe Nual did this."

Rikku sank down onto the steps Yuna had used earlier, and shook her head in disbelief. "Wait. If we bring them back together, everything will be okay though? Tidus will be alive. Yuna will be alive. They'll both be okay?"

Ina looked from Aldon's angry glare to Rikku's hopeful gaze and back again. "Probably. If they both loved each other, truly still love each other, they can cut the ties that bind them to death by simply finding each other, then with time and love their souls with regain their natural state."

Rikku wiped at the tears streaking down her cheeks and nodded. "We'll find him. It'll be okay."

"Damn right, we'll find him. Every ship here will set sail and search." Aldon offered. He tried to smile reassuringly. "Spira isn't that big a place."

"We have to tell Yuna. She needs to know this," Rikku said. She came to her feet and tried to slip past Aldon.

Ina stopped Rikku with a gentle gesture. "That would be a mistake. Fear, despair, guilt, anger, negative emotions, will draw death to her. Keep her hopes up. Keep her laughing. It is the best way to keep her safe now."

Aldon placed a hand on Rikku's shoulder in silent support. "I meant what I said, Ina. I want you off my ship."

Rikku shook her head slowly. "No, she is the only one who knows anything. We can't just get mad and leave her behind when she might be able to help." Rikku turned to face her friend Aldon. Then out of nowhere, tears streaming down her face, she laughed. "Wakka's going to kill me, and I don't blame him."

"This isn't you're fault," Aldon said. "Nual is to blame. The coven we harbor in the Jenquo society, they're to blame, not you."

Rikku shook her head. "I trusted you guys, Jenquo, like family and I left her alone." Rikku punched Aldon ineffectively in the chest and walked away from him. "I have to find Wakka and Lulu. Will you keep her safe? Can I trust you?"

"You shouldn't have had to ask," Aldon said. "I'm still your friend Rikku. I'll guard her with my life."

"I'd expect no less from a friend," Rikku said. She vaulted over the side of the ship and hit the dock with a thud. "I'll be back real quick."


	6. Vern?

NOTE: I recommend rereading Chapter 5 if you read it on the first draft. All 5 of the first chapters were rewritten, but that one took the most changes. Otherwise, hope you enjoy Chapter 6. Chapter 7 will be released whenever the edit and rewrite are complete on it (hopefully not too long).

Chapter 6

_A young woman with a perfect oval face and innocent blue-green eyes stood quietly, looking over the ocean. She wore pink and blue, a uniform of some kind and she waved a staff with purpose. Tidus reached out a hand to her, tried to touch her, but she looked right through him. After a few moments she dropped her staff and began to cry. Tidus wanted to help her, to tell her not to cry, but she couldn't hear him. She turned her head up toward heaven. She brought her hand to her mouth and she whistled. _

"Wake up new guy. Time to learn you're job," Hershey said. The rest of the room was still sleeping, or at least pretending to. Tidus sighed. People down here didn't like to look him in the eyes. Maybe it was because he was new, but they just didn't trust him.

Tidus stared at his would-be-friend for a long moment. He'd been dreaming. A face... he could remember a face, a girl. No name or anything to go with it, but it was something... something not gray or rank or vile. If he could remember her name, maybe he could remember who he was. The fear and panic were barely noticeable now, not because he was detached from them, but because he'd found a totem, something to occupy his thoughts. The girl from his dream, was she his sister or a friend? Were they lovers? Not enemies, he was sure of that. "No clue who I am, how I got here, and I have to learn a skill, lovely." When Hershey didn't reply, Tidus sighed and sat up. "Okay, what first?"

"We cover survival first. We're mining under water. Can you swim?" Hershey asked. "If you can't, there's no point in continuing. You're screwed."

Tidus shrugged. "I think I can. I hope I can." He shut his eyes and chewed on the word, swimming. The memory of strong strokes, tumbling balls, and sliding through salty fluid flashed behind his eyes. "No wait, I remember swimming, definitely. Clear blue water, yeah I remember."

"Clear blue, huh? I imagine you weren't out mining G3 grade sludge. When we get out to the mine, you aren't going to be able to see five inches. It's the most horrible black mess I've ever had the misfortune to have to deal with. Always follow the guidelines. They glow and they run from station to transport. You're never lost as long as you're on the line." Hershey pulled out a small chrome canister with a facemask attached. "This little device let's us breath when we need to. It's Al Bhed. It turns the air you breathe out back into good air to breathe back in. Don't ask me how it works."

Tidus took the canister and pressed the mask against his face. "How long do we stay under water at a time?"

"Longest I was ever under, twenty hours. It gets so you feel like the sludge down there is eating into your brain." Hershey paused and grinned. "Not for much longer though," he whispered. "I have a plan. You my friend are going to help me get out of this hole."

Tidus shrugged. "We mine outside? I don't see what's to keep us from just swimming away when no one's looking. They can't watch us all the time."

Hershey laughed. "You got spirit. That's good. There are three reasons we don't just swim away. First one is visibility," Hershey said. "If you can't see where you're going, how do you know where to run."

"And the second reason?" Tidus asked.

"That would be the armored machina patrolling just out of sight. I guarantee, they don't have trouble spotting runaways, and they cause a lot of hurting without impairing your working ability," Hershey said. "I like the third reason best though. Even if you could get away, there's nowhere to go. We're in the middle of the ocean."

"But you have a plan?" To Tidus, a man who didn't even have his own name, Hershey seemed like a godsend. "I want to escape too," Tidus blurted suddenly. "Not just help you." The girl in his dream, maybe he could find her. No, he had to find her. She'd know who he was. Tidus had a strange feeling that she could tell him everything. "Will your plan work with two people?"

Hershey didn't answer right away. "Let's get you through day one first, okay?"

Tidus listened to Hershey's careful instructions about his job's intricacies, its dangers and oddities. It was all he could do to stay focused on this man and his lessons. Tidus couldn't quite put the dream girl completely out of his mind. The longer he thought about her, the more certain he became that she wasn't a sister or even a friend. She was his, a part of him. Finding her was important. It was everything. If he could get out of the rattrap he'd awoken in, that is.

When the overseerers came around with their guns and their full body armor, Tidus felt pretty prepared for the mine. One of them took him aside and went through an abbreviated version of Hershey's early morning explanation. He was quickly ushered into a line and packed with thirty-nine other souls into a shuttle.

Tidus felt the first twinge of claustrophobia he could remember. The little silver canister he'd been handed didn't seem very reliable and his shuttle mates barely grunted. "They're dead," he thought to himself. "The only live men in this whole camp are me and Hershey. If we don't get away, we'll end up the same as them, oily, dead, automatons." When the water started filling the shuttle, Tidus gasped and covered his nose. The smell was worse than he'd imagined possible, rotten potatoes and sulfur. He lifted his foot out of the viscous black fluid and tried to imagine what it was going to feel like on his skin. The old miners laughed at him. The new guy was getting his feet wet. He didn't have to wait long to get the full effect. The shuttle took only a few minutes to fill.

At first Tidus couldn't bring himself to open his eyes. When he did, they burned like fire. Hershey had been right. You couldn't see five inches. Heck, he couldn't see the man sitting next to him in the shuttle. The doors screeched open and two at a time the miners were swallowed by the blackness. When Tidus finally made it to the door he barely had time to locate the glowing cable the overseer was indicating before he was being shoved out the door.

Tidus found that time in the mine was slow and immeasurable. There was no sun, no clock or lunch break, only the glowing line and the next station, the next task. Finally, loaded back into the tiny shuttles where the black water drained away leaving it's touch on everyone and everything, Tidus felt a million years old. The oil and grime clung to him weighing him down. He couldn't even bring the girl from his dream to mind.

"You made it man," Hershey said. He squeezed onto the bench next to Tidus. "First day is the hardest. Thought I was gonna go crazy. Then I started working on my plan."

Tidus shivered. He'd almost forgotten, there was a difference between himself and the other men here. He was getting out. Hershey had a plan. "I don't want to die here," he said quietly. "There's this girl. I dreamed her... She was dancing for me. I want to find her."

Hershey paused and laughed a low chuckle. "A dancing girl, huh? We're getting out of here, buddy. But first, I've got a present for you." Tidus frowned. He didn't want anything from the nasty hole they just left behind. The tacky film of oil and god knows what else covering his entire body was sufficient souvenir. "If you made it through the day, I knew you'd need a name. We can't keep calling you new guy. You're a veteran now, after that shift." Hershey paused and smiled. "I had a big brother. He died when he was eight, forest fiend. He had a great name though, Vernon, Vern for short."

One of the old men snorted. "Hell, Hershey named the new guy Vern."

"I thought he liked the new guy," another man replied.

While Hershey defended his choice in names, to the jeering of the shuttle, Tidus leaned his grime covered head back and shut his eyes. He could see her again, the sad girl from his dream. He had no way to perceive the cloud of death, which clung to his spirit. He couldn't know how strongly the specter of death could sense the despair he had almost surrendered to. In his ignorance, he clung to his hope, and the specter of death lost him from its sights.


	7. Set Sail Solomon

Note: All right, I don't know when chapter 8 will be ready to post. I was going to hold onto 7 until I knew 8 was almost ready, but you all left such kind feedback, I didn't want to make you wait for this one.

Note 2: Any Aurikkus who are reading this fic - I am in no way trying to incite your wrath. The pairing Auron/Rikku doesn't bother me. But in this fic he's dead. He was ready for death and I wasn't going to take that away from him. The slight romantic twitches I give Rikku and Aldon are not meant to dominate the fic. My beta reader told me I should include more Aldon and to not fear the Aurikku community. So here is me being all fearless.

Chapter 7

Yuna sat on the edge of a pier with her feet trailing in the water off Besaid's coast. She watched the waves and the light dancing over them. Cool spray speckled her legs and the salty smell of the sea intoxicated her. Yuna considered sliding into the crystal clear water and just floating.

Without warning, the sky clouded over and the sun disappeared. Clouds shouldn't be able to make it so dark. Then the water turned black and a sharp pungent smell filled the air. Yuna pulled her shirt up over her mouth and tried not to breath the foul vapors. A few feet away, a head emerged from the dark nasty water. Rivers of the black grease flowed slowly down over the cheeks and drained in a steady stream off the chin. Whatever color the person's hair had been it was slick wet and stained black by the horrible water. Yuna's breath caught in her throat. "Tidus?" Without another thought she slid off into the viscous water and swam the short distance to his side.

No hesitation, no fear, Yuna just threw her arms around him and laughed. "Tidus, I found you."

His beautiful blue eyes, still exactly the same amidst the grimy sludge around them stared down at her in confusion. "Who?" he whispered.

"I want to see her now!"

"You'll not go in while the lady's trying to sleep. I don't care who the blazes you think you are!"

Yuna opened her eyes slowly, her dream interrupted. That first bellow had been unmistakably Wakka. Rikku must have fetched him and probably Lulu too. Her heart sped up as she tried not to get upset. They had to understand. How could she make them understand what she'd done? It was wrong and selfish and probably more dangerous than she had any concept of, but it was her choice and the old woman Nual's choice too. The only person who hadn't been consulted was Tidus. He was the only person with the right to get mad.

Tidus! her dream, what did it mean. She knew Tidus wouldn't remember her but the water and the smell. What could they symbolize? Was Tidus in trouble or was it a clue about where he was? Then again, maybe it was just a dream. She shrugged aside any qualms she had about facing her friends and rolled out of the Hammock Ina had loaned her. She threw the door open on a glaring match between a short Jenquo sailor and Wakka. Wakka hesitated only a moment before breaking eye contact with the smaller Jenquo. He enfolded Yuna in a bear hug.

"You okay lady," he whispered.

Yuna nodded and pushed away from her burly friend. Not having seen herself before the nap, she didn't realize the improvement a few of hours sleep had made on her appearance. The dark circles were still there but less prominently, and her color was practically normal. "I'm wonderful, Wakka. I have to tell you what happened last night."

"No you don't. Rikku filled me and Lulu in. We know what you did." His face was drawn up in worry, but was he angry? Yuna couldn't tell. "Are you sure this was the right thing? I don't guess you can undo it now though, huh?" Wakka said.

Yuna dropped her eyes and shook her head. "I apologize, okay? It was selfish and wrong, and no, I can't undo it. But I don't want to undo it. I want to find Tidus. I want to be happy with him. I think it was fate, me and that Jenquo woman, coming together like that." She slipped past Wakka and hurried up the stairs to the main deck. "Don't you see? We can do this. Before there wasn't anything we could do. He was just gone. Now we just have to find Tidus. It's a miracle."

"A miracle, or an abomination," Lulu said. She was dressed in her guardian's clothes and her smile wasn't quite warm. "You know better than to toy with the far-plane. You're not setting a very good example. Summoners send souls to the far-plane, they don't fish them out."

"I'm not a summoner anymore, and it isn't my job to set an example for anyone. I've done what's right for my friends and for Spira. Now Spira is moving on with life, so are you. Kimahri's gone." Yuna glanced over her shoulder and smiled. "Wakka you're planning on restarting your family's farm. Rikku is the newest blitzball star in our midst." Yuna looked straight into Lulu's eyes. "I did my duty, and I lost my heart. Now that everyone's safe, I'm doing this for me and for Tidus. You should be able to understand. If someone offered you Chappu..."

Lulu held her hands up. "Just stop. I do understand. Better than you'll ever know. We're all just worried about you. You aren't the only one who loved Tidus. He was a friend to all of us."

"Don't worry." Yuna turned toward the horizon and the unending expanse of sea. "Tidus is out there. He did so much for us, now we - I, have done something for him." She couldn't seem to settle on an emotion: fear, joy, anticipation. Spira had never seemed so large.

A screeching whine of straining metal emerged from the engine room. "I can't let you do THAT to the engine!"

All eyes turned to Rikku as she emerged from below deck, streaked from head to foot in machine oil and carrying a couple of heavy looking pieces of machina. She tromped out of the engine room with a distraught Aldon following behind her. "I'm not going to sink your boat. I'm just going to give this old hunk of junk some speed," Rikku explained. She rolled her eyes and swung one of the devices she was holding at Aldon's midsection. He got his hands in front of it before it hit and caught the thing, but the air still rushed out of him in a pained whoosh.

"Jesus Rikki," Aldon hissed. "You think I'm going to help you mutilate my boat?"

Yuna's gentle laughter drew both of their attention. "Are we taking Aldon's boat then? When do we leave?"

Rikku grinned and saluted Yuna. "Within the hour captain."

"Hey, I'm the captain," Aldon said. "Rikku? You aren't touching that engine." Aldon eased the heavy machina part onto the deck and got in front of Rikku.

"If I don't touch it, who's going to put it back together?" Rikku made a passable effort at dropping the other part on Aldon's foot, but he jumped back, prepared for hostility. "I suggest you get with the other passengers and figure out where we're going. I'll make sure we get there as quickly as possible."

Aldon threw his hands up and looked around at their small audience. The handful of sailors seemed to be enjoying themselves. The lady summoner just seemed highly amused. "Fine. You sink this boat, and I don't care how big I owe you, there will be a reckoning."

Rikku made a curt little salute, plopped down, and attacked one of the parts with a metal file. "Yes, captain sir."

Wakka leaned in close to Yuna and Lulu. "I thought Rikku liked the Jenquo?"

Lulu smiled and nodded. "I detect some anger there. The poor fellow is getting the brunt of her frustration. She does bring up a good point though. Where are we going?"

"Tidus could be anywhere in Spira. I haven't got a clue where to start?" Yuna said.

Aldon coughed and waved his hand at all the empty docks. "I asked the other Jenquo vessels to head out to every major port in Spira and spread the word that we're looking for this guy, Tidus. Rikku gave each captain a long range Al Bhed communicator, so if they find anything, we'll be the first to know."

"Rikku had a dozen communicators just lying around?" Yuna said. "I'm impressed."

"Not exactly," Wakka said. "We've been getting things organized all day, while you were sleeping."

"All day?" Yuna winced. "I wasted a whole day sleeping?"

"Not wasted," Rikku called. "You look one hundred percent better and you'll be able to think better now."

"Think better, huh? Why can't I think of somewhere to start?" Yuna said quietly. The miracle suddenly seemed very far from accomplished.

"We start here and we follow you to Tidus, Yuna." The mother Ina, made herself heard from the ship's bow. "You're tied to him very tightly. I'd be very surprised if you didn't dream of him last night, if you're not thinking of him this second."

Wakka shot the woman a dirty look and grumbled under his breath. "Old stupih Jenquo woman started this whole mess. Knew they were trouble. Now she's going to..." Lulu remained impassive, except for a silent signal to Wakka to control himself.

The dream sequence from before flashed through Yuna's mind and she could almost smell the black water. "Maybe. I still don't know where to go," Yuna said.

"You don't have any idea?" Ina asked. Yuna shook her head. "Well, I've never done this before either. I'm not sure what we should do."

"I had an idea." Rikku didn't actually look up from her work with the ship's engine. "I talked to Dad, and every available Al Bhed is out beating the bushes. The Jenquo are out searching en force too. What can our little group really add to that? Not much." Rikku finally looked up. "I think we should sail out to sea. Blindfold Yuna, turn her in circles till she's dizzy and then let her steer." The less than friendly looks from Wakka and Aldon gave her pause. "It was just an idea."

"Not satisfied with wrecking her engines, you want to absolutely sink this ship to the bottom of the ocean," Aldon said. "I'm responsible for... I can't just let you recklessly endanger yourselves and my people and this vessel." He turned a slow circle, looking for support from the sensible people on deck. They should have been shaking their heads at that idea, but they weren't. They were standing around with damn contemplative looks, like steering blind was really an option.

"It wouldn't have to be reckless," Lulu countered. "We could stand watch and plot our course to be safe. Not that I think this is the way to go."

"Sounds like a good way to sail in circles to me," Wakka said.

"Does anyone have a better idea?" Ina asked. "Anyone? Because I like it. In my professional opinion, it might work. That said, if anyone thinks of something better, let us know."

Aldon threw his hands up. "Fine, we'll play this your way for now..." The air hissed out of him in a painful rush as Rikku launched one of the two pieces of the engine into his midriff again.

"Help me get this down to the engine room, all right?" Rikku said. She preceded him through the engine room door and out of sight.

"She keeps pushing him like that, and I don't care how bad he feels about what happened, that boy's going to retaliate," Wakka said.

Lulu nodded without cracking a smile. Yuna had moved away from them all and was staring off into the horizon. Lulu pulled Wakka close and whispered, "I'm afraid we've already lost this war."

"Lost the war already? What are you talking about?" Wakka said.

"What is there more of in Spira, ocean or land?" Lulu asked. Her face was inscrutable.

"Ocean, by a lot."

"How long can a man at sea last without water or sleep?" Lulu crossed her arms over her chest. "We don't have a lot of time. Baring a miracle, I think we're going to lose them both."

Wakka didn't answer right away. "You want to know something stupid Lulu? I believe in miracles. I think, maybe this was meant to be. One-in-a-million maybe..."

"Try a billion," Lulu said. She crossed her arms and cocked her head back.

"Maybe the happy ending will happen this time. You have to believe. Remember what Rikku said. We have to keep Yuna's spirits up, keep her fighting and believing."

"That's all well and good. Who's keeping Tidus's spirits up, pray tell? He doesn't even remember why he's here. This all comes down to us finding Tidus before death does, and death has the head start."

A loud growl erupted from the engine room followed by a puff of very black acrid smoke. Rikku and Aldon came running out coughing and sputtering. The growl quickly corrected itself to a steady hum, which vibrated the whole ship and the smoke gradually cleared.

"Let's hope those super-powered engines are enough to catch up then," Wakka said. "I don't much like to lose. I'm going for the victory here."

"At the very least, we'll try our best, right?" Lulu whispered.


	8. Getting Out is Hard to Do

Note 1: Sorry about the extreme delay in getting Chapter 8 out. Had some miscommunication with my Beta-reader. She thought I was too busy to re write and I thought she was too busy to edit when in actuality a couple of e-mails got sucked into a blackhole. Expect more Chapters soon.

Note 2: Thanks for the constructive comment in the feedback section. (You know who you are) I'm going to wade through the old chapters and attempt to apply it now :)

Chapter 8

Aldon brushed his hands through his longish dark hair and frowned at the crowd surrounding his helm. The former summoner, blindfolded and silent, at the center steered. Two of his men, Balto and Rugger, watched her every move and plotted their course. Then you add a largish red-headed former guardian and one old mother Ina. It equaled a very crowded seven-foot square area. At least the lady guardians had had the good sense to keep their distance. Lulu had retreated below deck, and Rikku? Rikku was staring out at the ocean looking like she'd lost her best friend.

Aldon felt a stirring in his gut. Rikku had been a childhood friend, almost like a little sister, but he wasn't crazy enough not to recognize that that was no twelve-year-old sharing his boat. This wasn't the time for wooing or flirting though. "Bad timing is all," he muttered.

"Bad timing?" Lulu asked.

Aldon jumped. No one should move about so silently. "Where'd you come from, lady?" 

"Below. I thought I'd come pry Wakka out of that mess and free up some room. He isn't helping," Lulu said. She cut her eyes toward Rikku. "You're her friend, yes?" 

That was something he could be sure of. "Always have been. Well since I was seven. The Solomon was my dad's ship. We ran a lot of supplies for the Al Bhed so Rikku and I hung out a lot. You wouldn't believe some of the messes we got into." 

Lulu smiled dryly. "You forget, I've known Rikku for some time now. I can imagine." She looked toward the horizon. "Time's funny you know. You wait for the perfect moment, the right time, but things are rarely perfect. You keep waiting for your moment, and sometimes it never comes." Lulu stepped away and headed for Wakka. "I believe in creating my own moments." 

Aldon watched her go, cursed under his breath, and mentally berated himself. Since when was he so transparent? Rikku snuck a glance his way. Since when was he so cautious? Aldon took a deep breath and made his way over to Rikku. "Cheer up little girl," Aldon said. "All's going well. You should have my boat sunk before sundown." He tried to catch Rikku's eye to gauge her response to his teasing. 

Rikku didn't quite crack a smile. "You're not funny." She tried not to look at the tall dark pirate grinning at her. He was Aldon, the big-eared mischievous boy who helped her secure her first tattoo. Rikku's hand went involuntarily to her stomach. Ten year-olds should not make decisions like permanent body art. Her little tuna fish was proof positive of that. Aldon had been her hero when she was little girl. Now he was a grownup, a captain. Rikku felt a laugh trying to escape. She could still see the big-eared boy behind his adult face. The laughter didn't escape but a tiny smile did. It wasn't right to smile and laugh with him when Yuna was in trouble. "You're really not funny at all." 

Aldon could see the merriment Rikku suppressed in her eyes, and it made him unreasonably proud. "No? I'll have to work on that. I live to amuse you." 

Rikku rolled her eyes. "Sarcasm doesn't become you." 

_

* * *

Black, no sound, no light, only viscous putridity filled the world. Tidus was underwater, and he was going to drown. He tried not to panic. If you surrender to the disorientation then you drown. Only if you can find stillness, can you find up... up and air. There it was, the buoyancy that signaled up. Tidus kicked and tried not to surrender to the complaints of his burning lungs. He burst through into air, tainted by the vapors wafting off the black waters. Tidus sucked it in slowly. The air relieved the one burning in his lungs for oxygen while searing them with a different pain. _

"Tidus, I found you." 

It was her, his dream girl was back, and she could see him. Just seeing her face was enough to lift his spirits and fill the dark little world with light. A thousand questions came into his mind. Who was she? Was he Tidus? "Who?" He tried to reach out and touch her, but she vanished, and with her all the light went out of the little world. "Who are you?" Tidus called into the emptiness. "Come back!" 

"Damn it, wake up Vern. Nobody's getting any blessed sleep with you shouting like that," Hershey hissed. 

Tidus opened his eyes and sat up on his little bunk. He hated the name Hershey had come up with, but he could endure it. Hershey had a plan. That plan was going to get him out of here, out of Hell. "I want to hear the plan, Hershey. You talk about it all the time, but you never tell me what it really is." 

Hershey punched his mattress and rolled over presenting his back to Tidus. "You been here a couple of days, man. Now you giving me orders? I tell you what you need to know, when you need to know it, okay meathead." 

Tidus stared at his sort-of-friend's back. It had taken him a while to get used to the world, not knowing who he was or the rules he was supposed to be playing by, but he was beginning to feel like his feet were under him again. Waiting passively for an unexplained plan to materialize, wasn't working for him anymore. "Hershey, tell me something." 

Hershey rolled over and glared up at Tidus. "Tell you something?" Anger and frustration boiled in that glare. Far removed from the calm almost jovial mask Hershey showed the world. This new face wanted to hurt something. "I grew up on a boat, an Al Bhed machinist, third generation. You're obviously some kind of Yevonite bastard, so you don't know how important that is." 

Tidus stared. Hershey had always remained composed around him before. His eyes were wild now though. His calm facade was developing fissures. Was Hershey crazy? "I just." Tidus couldn't look Hershey in the eyes. "How does a machinist end up in a mine." 

Hershey blinked rapidly and his normally good-natured expression returned. "Al Bhed society is complicated, part socialist, part communist peopled with pirates, heathens, and crooks. This is a debtors' mine. Some men owe money others just owe society. I... did something... when I was a kid. A bad thing." Hershey adjusted his pillow again and rolled away from Tidus. "Get some sleep, Vern." 

Tidus stared at Hershey's back for a long moment. Crazy? Instead of going back to sleep, he started picking his way through the sea of sleeping miners. There had to be more to the world than the stinking hole he'd spent the last two days in. He caught glimpses in his memory sometimes. If he thought about swimming, he could see what an ocean was supposed to be like, blue and green, salty but alive. His dream girl, she could help him remember the sun and the stars. When he stopped to picture her, he could feel a cool breeze on his face and the smell of the wild flowers in the air. There was more to the world. He needed to see it, to remember. 

"Hey, Vern, new guy, what-the-Hell-ever," one of the miners said. He tugged at Tidus's pants leg. "Ya' still buying Hershey's horse shit?" 

"What are you talking about?" Tidus squinted in the low light. It was hard to judge age beneath the layers of dirt, but this man seemed older almost grandfatherly. Tidus imagined his hair would be white if it weren't stained muddy black. "You have a beef with Hershey?" 

"A beef, nah, Hershey's okay fella. Prolly the nicest son of a bitch here. He just happens to be crazier than a Bessie-bug." The old man offered Tidus his streaked, stained hand. "Name's Oleander." 

Tidus hardly hesitated to take Oleander's hand. His own hand was as grimy and no one was offering showers so there wasn't exactly anything to be done about personal hygiene. "I'm not sure what my name is. Hershey took up calling me Vern." 

The old man laughed. "What a name." He sat up and patted his bunk. Tidus really hesitated this time. He didn't want to be disloyal to Hershey. Oleander already called Hershey crazy. Plan or not, crazy or sane, Hershey had helped him. In the end he took the seat, but he didn't sit in it comfortably. "Hershey been telling you he got a plan to get out of here?" Tidus didn't answer. "There ain't no way out. It don't exist. This is a debtor's mine. You never work off your debt. You don't escape. I been here ten years, longer than anybody. I'd know if there were a way out." 

"Ten years is longer than anybody?" Tidus asked. "If people don't leave that doesn't make sense." 

Oleander laughed hard this time, a laugh that died in a hoarse cough. "Water out there's poison. Some folks just last longer than others. I'm a tough bastard." 

Tidus didn't laugh. "I'm not sure that Hershey's crazy, but I don't know that I believe he has a viable plan either. I am going to get out of here though. If Hershey can't help, I'll find my own way." 

"You got a plan now?" Oleander asked. 

"No, I have a purpose. I ever come up with a plan. I doubt you'll ever hear about." Tidus stood and patted Oleander on the shoulder. 

"You'd keep it a secret?" 

"No, I wouldn't get around to talking about it. I'd be gone." Tidus didn't let it show, but Oleander had really shaken his already unsteady faith in Hershey. He needed to find his own way out. He was only going to be able to depend on himself. 

The latrine was thankfully empty, and Tidus went about his business. He didn't leave immediately afterwards. They were underwater, how deep was debatable. Slipping out a window wasn't going to happen. Things left the station though: waste water, whatever the heck that stuff was they were mining. He just needed to find a way to hitch a ride out with something. He examined the pipe sizes around the room cursorily. "Well, flushing myself down the toilet isn't going to work." 

Tidus couldn't bring himself to head back to his bunk. There was too much to think about to just sleep. Instead, he headed for the mess hall, an incredibly long room full of metal benches and tables. A few other men had gathered together around one of the back tables. From what he could see they were playing a game, the only game he'd ever seen any of these miners play. They called it Poon Toose. 

The men who participated actively sought out the small rodents, Poons, which were practically knee deep all over the compound. Poons were alopecia inflicted little lizard-like things. They came in a variety of colors. Tidus once saw a tiger striped one. The men caught them and kept them alive in crude cages they made from extra beds. Hershey hadn't told him what the purpose of the game was, how you won, or much of anything about it. He didn't play and Tidus had only been interested in surviving at the time. He worked his way over to watch how the game turned out. 

There were more than a dozen of the little rodents scurrying frantically in a makeshift corral, on top of one of the tables. 

One of the men smiled at Tidus and waved him closer. "Edger just went to get the Toose from the kitchen. You haven't seen a good Poon Toose before, eh?" Tidus shook his head and kept his distance. "Hey Edger, where's that damn Toose?" 

"Got it man." Edger, a very tall fellow, came out of the kitchen area holding a two-foot long sleepy looking feline. It had two tails and was covered in wild spots. "Fluffer here was the only Toose around today." 

It was suddenly very clear to Tidus why the players of Poon Toose were always catching new Poons. One of the men opened the coral, freeing the Poons. Then the Toose, Fluffer, came alive at the sight of so many of its prey. It launched itself into their midst, eviscerating the poons not bothering to eat its kill before attacking the next. Tidus hadn't thought anything could make the meals in the mess hall seem less appealing, but the bloody carnage of tiny mutilated corpses on the tables and smeared across the floor left him a little green. 

"I won!" Edger called. He brandished the Toose's last kill. "I told you that little gray Poon was a fast bastard." 

Tidus didn't stay to find out what the prize for winning was. Some of the men were collecting the dead Poons, and he didn't want to know what was done with them. His bunk suddenly seemed like a heavenly haven and he headed back toward the sea of sleeping men. 

"Hey Vern." Tidus tried to ignore the whisper to his right, but an arm reached out and pulled him into the shadows. "You ready to get out of here?" 

"Hershey?" Tidus whispered. "I thought you were asleep?" 

"My plan is ready for action. Well, you like mining or you want out of this hole?" Hershey said. 


	9. Hope Lives! A Destination at Last

Note: Capter 10 needs some serious tweaking, so it will probably be a couple of days before I send it out. :)

Chapter 9

_A dark corridor lit by bare yellow electric lights stretched out in front of Yuna. She turned slowly. There were men, dark and dirty everywhere. The smell was rank with unwashed bodies mixed with the rotten smell of the water in her last dream. "Hey Vern." Yuna spun around looking for the owner of the voice. _

Instead she spotted Tidus. "Tidus? Yevon, help me find you." The man who had spoken took Tidus by the arm and pulled him back. Neither man took note of her. "Tidus, can you see me?"

"You ready to get out of here?" the man asked.

Yuna moved close to the two men. Tidus looked tired, strained, almost lost. She reached out, but her hand passed through him.

"Hershey?" Tidus said. "I thought you were asleep?"

"This is real. Isn't it?" Yuna whispered. "You're living this." Ina had told her that her dreams could be helpful. Yuna started looking for something, anything to give her a clue about where he was. "Help me find you."

"My plan is ready for action. Well, you like mining or you want out of this hole?" Hershey said.

Yuna froze. "Mining? What are you doing at a mine?"

* * *

"Have we been going in circles?" Rikku asked. She craned her neck and tried to get a look at the plot sitting in front of Aldon. Her smile was full of hope and suppressed anticipation..

"Surprisingly enough, we're not. Yuna lists off one direction or another when she's behind the wheel, but she always comes back to a relatively straight line," Aldon said.

Rikku grinned. "I can't wait to tell Wakka. He said we'd be back in Besaid in two days."

"I hate to burst your bubble. We may not be going in circles, but we aren't actually going anywhere," Aldon said. "We're headed straight for the Southern Violet Ocean. There isn't any land to speak of down there until you hit the ice cap."

"Are you sure that's where we're headed? What's the nearest island on our line? We have to be headed somewhere." Aldon shook his head. She hadn't even considered what would happen to Tidus at sea. "We'll just have to hurry."

"If we go faster, we risk shooting past him." Aldon massaged his temples. "We just have to hope he's close." He dropped his eyes. "If this doesn't work out..."

"Don't go there, Aldon. This is going to work out," Rikku snapped.

The door to the captain's cabin burst open and a rumpled Yuna burst in. She shoved the arms on her pale blue pajamas up and took the nearest seat. "I think I have a clue about where Tidus is. I know you aren't telling me where I've been steering because you don't want to bias things, but maybe we'll come with a real destination." Yuna paused and smiled shakily. "I had a dream. Tidus was at a miners' camp and he couldn't get away." Yuna waited expectantly. "Ina said I should pay close attention to my dreams. She said I might dream something useful."

Aldon shrugged. "I don't know about any mines where we're headed. It would have to be an Al Bhed operation. Mining in the ocean isn't a low tech undertaking."

Yuna and Aldon immediately turned to Rikku. "Don't look at me. I'll have to contact my dad," Rikku said. She smiled at Yuna. "The dream, it was real, like really real? Tidus was okay?"

Yuna shook her head. "He was alive, but he didn't look good. He was dirty and tired, and I know he was confused."

"Alive though. That means everything." Rikku pushed her seat back and saluted. "I'm off to the radio. My dad will get us the info quick." She crossed her fingers. There had to be a mining station in their path. It would mean that they really had a chance. She waved to Wakka and Lulu at the bow. Now those two were spending a lot of time together.

Wakka waved at Rikku as she passed through. Lulu didn't even bother. "Hey, you mad at Rikku now?" Wakka asked.

"No." Lulu stared over the dark ocean. "I'm not mad at anyone. Not anyone I can get my hands on anyway."

"Ah, so just taking it out on those of us in range." Wakka took a little piece of wood and threw it as hard as he could. Lulu snapped her fingers and it burst into flame a moment before it would have struck the water.

"No littering," Lulu said. She smiled dryly and shrugged. "Believe it or not, I'm hopeful. It's impossible to be around you naive optimists and not start to believe a little."

"Naive optimists?" Wakka laughed and pulled himself up to sit on the railing. Hopeful? Lulu was pretty when she bothered to smile. She hadn't smiled nearly enough for a long time though. Sometimes he wanted to shake her, to tell her it was okay to be happy. Chappu wouldn't have wanted to take her smile. "I like that. Better than being a jaded pessimist anyway, right?"

"Are you insinuating that I'm jaded and a pessimist?" Lulu asked. The sharp look she shot him practically dared him to make the accusation. She'd had her share of optimistic dreams and naive fantasies. Just because she knew enough not to count on happy endings, did not make her jaded or even a pessimist. She was a realist, a hopeful realist.

"Did I say that? Worst I ever said about you is you get mad easy," Wakka said. _And I'm the world's champion at making you angry..._

"Hey, you two," Rikku called. "Group meeting, we may have a destination!" She waved a printout and headed into the captain's cabin.

Wakka jumped down and started across the deck. "Score another one for the naive optimists. Wonder what's changed?"

Lulu shrugged. "Last I checked, we were headed straight nowhere." She paused at the entrance to the lower deck. "Should we tell the mother Ina?"

Wakka shook his head vehemently. "I don't think so. She creeps me out something fierce." He allowed Lulu to pass first and followed her in. The small room was cramped with five people so Wakka stayed back in the doorframe. Yuna was perched expectantly on the edge of her seat and Rikku was spreading her printout in front of Aldon.

"I knew it!" Rikku cried. "It's right in the path!"

"What is?" Lulu asked.

"The Alathian Mining Co., provider of G3 grade sludge to Al Bhed refineries everywhere," Rikku said.

Aldon nodded. "Assuming Yuna really has been steering toward this fellow, Tidus. This is the only possible haven, and better yet, it's close."

"How close is close?" Wakka asked. "A day? A hour?"

Aldon cut his eyes at Rikku. "As long as Rikku's modifications to the engine don't sink us? Less than a day."

"Don't worry," Rikku said. "Like I'd sink your boat. Anyway, Dad called ahead and told the owner, Orcha Lee, to expect a Jenquo ship making a supply run for him instead of the regular vessel. He didn't act like he much cared for this woman, Orcha, and wanted to make sure we didn't get turned away out of hand."

Yuna nodded. "If her mine is anything like the place I've been dreaming of, she's despicable. It is foul and degrading. I can't stand the thought of Tidus trapped there alone and confused." Yuna's hands were twisted together in her lap.

Rikku smiled resolutely. "Remember, though. Less than a day and we'll be there. All this can end happy. Tidus and you can be together." The old mother Ina's warning about keeping one's spirits up and the danger of negative emotions nagged at Rikku. Tidus was in an unpleasant situation... He'd just have to hold on a little longer. Losing to death now was not an option.

Wakka and Lulu exchanged similar expressions of concern. What if death beat them to Tidus? What then? Yuna would be sure to follow quickly, and their spirits would be lost forever in Hell, alone.

Yuna sat quietly for a moment, waiting for the other shoe to drop. They were all hiding something. She could feel the lie thick in their glances and exchanged stares. She could feel it in the way Aldon wouldn't meet her eyes and the way Rikku smiled, too determinedly. "I wish you would all just tell me what has you so scared. It can't be any scarier than not knowing. Stop protecting me, and treat me like an equal. Wakka? Lulu? Rikku?"

No one spoke for a long moment. Finally Rikku shrugged. "Everyone just wants this to work out. No one is hiding anything. Why would we hide something?"

Yuna watched the others nod their silent assent. She sighed and rested her head in her hands. "Fine. You don't have to tell me. Just let's hurry. We're so close."


	10. The Great Escape

Note: Okay, this is a different kind of note... As an author, I can recognize my tendency to rush to endings. I see an ending I chase it down and hammer it out as quickly as possible (sometimes to the detriment of my fics). Therefore I take it seriously when multiple reviews ask me to not finish the story yet, especially when I was planning the ending in the next three chapters. Then I did get one review which said the plot was running thin, which I take to mean end the fic as quickly as you can. Mixed comments! Very disturbing for someone who generally takes feedback very seriously. So if you have any comment on the subject now is the time to make your voice heard. 

Chapter 10 

Tidus turned to stare at his friend Hershey. They were alone in the little corridor, at least for the moment. "You're ready to bust out of here. Just like that? Not that I'm complaining, just tell me what we're doing." Something, not the usual black scum speckled Hershey's face and front. It was hard to tell in the dim light but it looked rust colored, almost like the poon blood had look splattered all over the mess hall. Tidus shut his eyes and tried to get the image of the Poon Toose game out of his head. 

"We have a shift coming up. They're going to ask for a B.A.S. crew, two men. We're going to volunteer," Hershey said. 

"Okay, what is a B.A.S. crew? How is this going to work?" Tidus asked. One of the Poon Toose players shoved past them, headed back out into the sleeping area, and they had to wait until their privacy returned. "Can I know the plan now?" 

"You get to know, what you need to know." Hershey looked around, cautiously. "Just volunteer, then when I give the signal, help me overpower the guard. Hopefully there won't be two." 

Tidus did the math, two unarmed, untrained miners, against a trained, armor clad, weapon laden overseer. At first glance the odds were not good. Then he figured again, desperation had more value than a weapon could ever provide. "We can take down one overseer and we're out? You sure you know what you're doing?" 

Hershey nodded. "This is my last chance. I gotta get out now."

* * *

Tidus didn't ask Hershey about his rush. He had his own reasons to want out as soon as possible. Hershey's were his own business. 

The long metallic whine, which signified the beginning of a shift, filled the hall and surrounding rooms. Hershey pushed Tidus forward, back into the sleeping area ahead of the straggling Poon Toose players. One of the Overseers stepped forward and signaled for silence. The small amount of murmuring that had been going on gradually stopped. "I need two volunteers for a B.A.S." The room was silent. Hershey kicked Tidus in the shins. 

"I'll do it... whatever it is," Tidus said. He looked around slowly. Some of the men were moving away from him and he could hear a murmur about bad luck. 

Hershey patted him on the back. "Can't let Vern go it alone. I'll help too." 

Tidus felt a nervous flutter deep in his stomach. What the heck was a B.A.S.?

* * *

Rikku wrapped the bandanna she'd bummed off Aldon more tightly across her face and tried not to breathe unless absolutely necessary. They had arrived at the Alathian Mining Platform less than an hour ago, but the smell had invaded the air slightly earlier. Yuna had gotten all excited. "That's the smell. That's the smell from my dream." Of course Rikku had been too busy gagging to bounce around with her. This couldn't be a good thing, dumping something that smelled like that into the ocean. As the only real Al Bhed aboard the Solomon, Rikku felt a little ashamed and upset at what she'd seen and well smelt. 

Yuna was the only person who didn't seem to be suffering through the rancid vapors. A patch of white cloth was wrapped over her face. Lulu had insisted that the vapors couldn't be healthy and had tied it on personally. Yuna was obviously too busy worrying and thinking. If Rikku had been in her position, she imagined she would be up and down the ship, pacing a furrow in the deck, but Yuna wasn't a pacer. She was a prayer. Her eyes half-shut and her head bowed, you could just see her lips moving behind her mask. Now that Yevon was no longer a religion, Rikku wondered to whom Yuna prayed. 

"Hey Rikku, any response to your hail yet?" Wakka asked. He took a seat by her next to the rail and adjusted the yellow swath of cloth over his lower face. "I'd like to figure out if Tidus is here and get as far away as possible. Ya know what I mean?" 

Rikku nodded. "I know what you mean. We're still in limbo though. That guy said they were changing shifts and it would be a few hours." 

"Ya, okay. What the heck is that stuff anyway?" Wakka was staring over the edge of the boat at the too dark ocean water. "It can't be a good thing, smelling like that." 

"I don't know if it is the stuff they're mining or a throw-away-something. The G3 grade sludge, we refine that into fuel and lubricant and plastics." Rikku stared at her feet. "It is pretty nasty, isn't it?" 

"Worse than Malboro dung." Wakka laughed long and hard. "You'll just have to tell your dad about this mess. Never would have said this a few months ago, but I trust Cid and quite a few of you Al Bheds. I figure you and your dad will stop this stuff, now that it's been rubbed in your face, eh?" 

Rikku nodded and readjusted her bandanna. "Liberally rubbed in." What must Tidus have thought of the world, waking up with no memories in a stinky hole like this place? "I hope Tidus is okay." 

"I wouldn't worry, Rikku," Wakka said. "He's a tough guy."

* * *

"B.A.S., burial at sea," Tidus thought to himself. He hadn't realized exactly what they had meant until he was face to face with the dead body. He had almost backed out when he saw who the B.A.S. was for. Oleander, one of the half-dozen or so faces and names he had together, and the man who had pulled him aside earlier today and tried to warn him about how crazy Hershey was. 

"Both of you. Get the body on the gurney and follow me," the overseer said. "Don't drag your feet either. They're holding the last shuttle out to the mine for you." 

The dim lighting glinted off the visor covering the armored guard's face. Tidus shivered. The man hardly seemed human, barking at them about disposing of Oleander as though the old man they were carrying were no more than a bag of particularly bulking and annoying garbage. Tidus caught Hershey's eye but he shook his head, not yet. Hershey started pushing the gurney after their guard, and Tidus followed close behind. 

"Okay boys, we're here. The body goes in the pod there. Take the clothes and the shoes, he won't need them where he's headed," the guard said. 

Hershey turned to Tidus and grinned. "You ready? Cause I'm ready." He winked and pushed the gurney forward into the overseer's chest. 

Tidus didn't waste time wishing that he had a weapon, anything but his unaided fists against the armor encased overseer. He rushed past the gurney and pinned the man to the ground. The man bucked and struggled. Tidus could barely keep him down. "Hershey, I think his armor is upping his strength. It's machina. I can't hold him much longer!" 

"Just need to hold him a second," Hershey said. He pulled one of the guard's guns out of its holster and knelt by his head. He flipped open the armored visor and rested the cool muzzle on the guard's temple. 

Tidus, felt the man go rigid beneath him as he turned his newly revealed eyes up to his captors. "Don't kill me," the man whispered. "I don't want to die." He wasn't that old, maybe in his twenties. A young man caught in his role in life, he, was just a man. "Please?" He was crying, the formerly inhuman overseer was crying. 

"We don't have to kill him. We could lock him in a storage bin or something," Tidus said. "We aren't going to kill him, right?" Without acknowledging a word Tidus said, Hershey pulled the trigger and the guard's begging stopped. One moment Tidus had been pinning a living man to the deck, now he was astride a dead mass... He was covered in bits of... 

"No time," Hershey snapped. "Those jokers are holding the last mining shuttle. This has to happen fast." 

Tidus was a little slow rising off the overseer. He used his shirt to wipe at the fine spray of blood and bits of flesh covering his face and hands. "We killed him. Why did we have to kill him?" It was Poon-Toose on a bigger scale, but who decided who the rodents were? How had they become the predators? 

"Snap out of it," Hershey hissed. "You didn't kill him. I did. You can rest your fricking conscience. I need you're help with this, now." He was leaning over the capsule they were supposed to have put Oleander in and trying to pry the top off. He cried out in agony after only a few seconds and gripped his right side. 

This wasn't the time to wax and wane over right and wrong. Tidus turned away from the guard. "Are you okay?" Tidus asked. He reached out to Hershey but his friend just glared at him. 

"You think I'm not going to want to leave, cause of this little thing? I'm getting out you stupid son of a bitch," Hershey hissed. Sweat was standing out on his brow and his eyes were wild again, wild and dangerous. The gun in his right hand rose slowly toward Tidus. 

"Calm down, man," Tidus unconsciously echoed Hershey's words from his first night at the mining colony. "We're both getting out, right?" 

"No just one," Hershey hissed. "One man in the capsule, shot out beyond the machina sentries. One man, swims to the surface and stows away on the Al Bhed supply ship. He gripped Tidus' shirtfront and pulled him close. "I killed Oleander. I killed the guard. I earned this!" he screamed. Some sanity seemed to return to his eyes. "I waited so long for someone to die when the supply ship was here. People are always dying. I waited for six years. I didn't want to have to kill anyone. But I had to kill Oleander... to escape. Dying here, I can't die here," Hershey pleaded. He lifted his shirt exposing a weeping sore covering his right side and most of his chest. Tidus felt the bile rise in his throat. Hershey was crazy. This place drove him completely mad. "Vern?" Hershey said. "I'm sorry about lying to you about two people getting out with my plan." He held his right side and stared at Oleander. "I had to kill him..." 

Tidus couldn't find any words of comfort to offer Hershey. He'd never felt more lost. What was he supposed to do now? Every second they delayed they came closer to capture. After killing a guard, Tidus didn't want to know what was going to happen to the man who stayed behind. He ran his hand along the seam in the pod until he encountered a depression. He pushed and the pod slid open. Tidus had to fight the urge to get in the pod and tell Hershey to go to Hell. Whoever went would need the other's help or they'd never get launched. "I didn't want to die here, you know?" Tidus said. He could feel despair welling up in his heart. "There was that girl I wanted to check on." The ties to death surrounding Tidus's soul grew stronger and blacker with each passing moment. The huntress, death, could finally smell the lamb she'd lost. 

Like a pendulum swinging high and low, Hershey's state of mind, his very sanity waned and ebbed. The hand clenching the gun went limp and the weapon clattered to the deck. Dangerous eyes turned sad, almost gentle. Hershey laughed long and hard. "You still got that wet dream on your mind? I liked you Vern, from the first time we met. You're still good. It ain't in you yet. The poison in this place fills up your mind and your body. But it ain't infected you." Hershey shifted and looked at the ugly sore eating into his chest. "Vern." He turned to stare at the sleek coffin. "I want you to have this, my plan. Find your girl, for me, okay?" 

Tidus rocked back in shock. "Are you serious?" 

After a long pause, Hershey nodded. "I'm dead already. Knew it coming into this. Wasn't sure what I was gonna do about it. Till now." 

Despair evaporated in the face of renewed hope, and Death lost sight of her prey. Thwarted by her quarry again, the dark huntress continued to stalk the land of the living, now almost close enough to touch the misplaced soul, Tidus. It wouldn't be long now, a little fear and a little anger that would be enough. 


	11. The Huntress, Death

Chapter 11

Yuna stared out over the black waters and tried to feel something. It was partially her subconscious that had brought them this far, but Yuna couldn't seem to bring any perception of her unseen connection to Tidus into her conscious mind. There had to be a sign, a way to sense if Tidus was here for sure. If he wasn't here, they were wasting time. The smell, rotten and acrid, was somewhat convincing. Just dreaming something as nauseating as that wasn't likely, but she was still nervous. What if they were wrong? Where would they search then?

A prayer came to mind, one of the simple, "protect me and guide me and keep me Yu Yevon", verses and Yuna recited it. It wasn't out of faith, rather a habit. She uttered the words, which were familiar, which had brought her comfort in the past. Despite their hollow meaning, Yuna whispered them over and over again.

Sitting in the shadows, unnoticed and silent the Old Mother Ina surveyed the tense collection of people. Her gaze continually returned to the lady summoner no matter how she tried to avert her attention. If the old mother had had any clue about the uncertainty Yuna struggled with, she would have reassured her. Ina could perceive the black wispy ties to death on and around the Lady Yuna. Some of those ties ran an umbilicus between the lady and her love, Tidus. Those ties to Tidus had become distinctly thick and languid like the ripe tentacles of a giant Malboro. They trailed off and into the ocean. Tidus was here, somewhere down below. How long did they have though? She could feel death, close and strong.

* * *

Tidus's escape was almost a failure before he even began his swim for freedom. Hershey had managed to fold him into the capsule and eject it from the platform without undue trouble. It had seemed like an eternity bouncing along, too fast to consider ditching and swimming up. The first and only major problem had reared its ugly head when he finally decided that it was time to go for it and swim. He couldn't get the pod to open. His first thought had been, _dead men don't need to escape from their coffins._ The inclination to panic was overwhelming, but Tidus wouldn't surrender to it. He found the safety catch a few moments later, and was out in the water.

It was like his dream, trapped in the foul black water. Unlike his dream there was no fear of drowning. Instincts he couldn't remember honing had him kicking for the surface almost instantaneously. In his dream he'd swum to safety and into the arms of the girl, his girl. Tidus couldn't help feeling that she was out there now, waiting for him, praying for him. All he had to do was find her.

Tidus kicked hard for the surface, his lungs beginning to burn. Unlike in his dream, the world grew lighter as he neared the surface. When his head broke through into the air, he just wanted to howl his glee, the sun! But the escape wasn't over. He had to sneak onto the supply ship, or he was dead. A nagging fear tugged at his stomach. This was doable though. He was too close to fail.

* * *

The two girls, Rikku and Yuna had come together at the Starboard railing. Rikku had her arm wrapped around her cousin and they appeared to be deep in conversation. The Old Mother Ina watched them and half-dozed. Then it hit her, like fingernails on a chalkboard, her senses screamed imminent death. She stood up straighter and spun, scanning the water. What could they do? They had to do something. Time had run out.

Ina's gaze went glassy and she reached desperately for Tidus for the target of death. "Unmistakable." Tidus was close, no longer buried under leagues of ocean. "There," she whispered. Less than fifty feet away and swimming toward their ship, it had to be Tidus. But death was so close. "He's afraid," Ina whispered.

"Yuna!" Ina rushed down from her perch and ran to Yuna's side. "Quick let him see you. There isn't any time!" Ina shouted.

"Tidus," Yuna said. She stood quickly and followed Ina's gesture at the figure swimming toward the ship. "No time?"

"He'll never make it here. He's afraid, and death is close to reclaiming his soul," Ina said. "Give him hope, anything to hold death back."

"Death? Are you sure?" Rikku said. She faced out to the ocean and craned her neck trying to see Tidus. She spun back to Yuna and Ina, a serious frown creasing her brow. "We can't lose now."

Yuna looked between the two women and horror creased her brow. "So death has been stalking us, stalking Tidus? That's what you wouldn't tell me." Yuna said. Her eyes filled with tears and she shook her head adamantly. "It doesn't end here. I won't let it end here. He needs hope?" Yuna pulled the white mask down around her neck and whistled for all she was worth. Hear it. Understand it. Don't die, Tidus. A loud pure whistle returned from the ocean. The worry creasing Yuna's brow faded. It was Tidus. "I'm going to him. I'm coming." Supremely calm, Yuna began to scale the railing.

"You can't jump off in that mess down there," Rikku said. She tried to stop Yuna from climbing the boat's rail, but Ina restrained her. "You'll break your neck, and you don't swim that well. Yunie, wait."

"It's their only chance," Ina whispered. "Death is too close."

Wakka and Lulu emerged from below deck at a run and were just in time to witness Yuna's swan dive into the fouled ocean. "Yuna!" Wakka called. He started up the rail as if to fish Yuna out of the water. "What the heck does she think she's doing?"

"Tidus is there," Rikku said. She pointed to the approaching figure nervously.

"You should have let him swim to the boat. God knows what's in that water," Lulu said.

"There isn't any time," Ina whispered. Her unfocused gaze fixed on the pair of swimmers. "It will be so very close."

"We weren't too late?" Lulu whispered. She turned to Wakka. "They're going to make it?" Her eyes normally so cool, ever the realist, the cynic, were bleeding hot tears. They were the eyes of a naive optimist, who hadn't quite forgotten about happy endings.

"They're going to make it," Wakka said. His words held all the conviction he could muster. "They have to."

Lady Ina watched the clouds of death coalesce and darken. She thought at any moment it would end, and death would take one then the other. "I can't look," she whispered. Ina covered her face and looked away...

* * *

Tidus hadn't been able to believe it when he heard the whistle from the supply ship. It wasn't possible, was it? There was too much coincidence. He hadn't been able to make out her face when she dove into the water but it had to be her. Why would anyone dive into the soup he was swimming in? She'd swum to him in his dream though, and now she was paddling awkwardly his way again.

A few hard strokes and they were so close, they could almost touch, and then she was in his arms. She fit there, like they were made to slide together. "Tidus," she whispered. "Is it really you?" She wiped at the grime on his face and cleared the area around his eyes.

"I'm Tidus? Tidus..." he said. Tidus held Yuna tight and planted a desperate kiss on her forehead. "I dreamed you. I couldn't remember anything but you, you and your face from my dreams. It was all I could hold onto. You were my proof that there was a world to find. You were always vanishing out of my dreams... I'm half expecting this to end. I don't want to wake up. Don't disappear, okay?"

Yuna laughed and tears rolled down her cheeks. "Asking me not to disappear? I promise not to disappear, if you won't either." Tidus nodded solemnly. "Do you remember, anything? Me? Sin? Zanarkand?"

Tidus stroked at her damp hair. "I don't remember your name or any of those things. Why don't I remember? My own name... you said it was Tidus?"

"Yes, you're name is Tidus, star blitzball player for the Zanarkand Abes, guardian to the summoner Yuna, a dream of the fayth," Yuna said. She framed Tidus's face with her hands. "Don't be afraid. I know you'll remember eventually. I'll tell you everything you want to know."

Her answer sparked a hundred new questions, questions that could wait. Tidus just wanted to hold his precious dream for another moment before she explained all the mysteries away. Whatever the truth was or the future held, he was where he belonged for that moment. A peaceful elation filled his mind, simple peace, like nothing he could remember.

* * *

Ina knew when the lovers came together. After their first touch, the heat of their love flashed a brilliant white over her perception even through her closed eyes. The white fire burned the invisible ties to death that almost destroyed their lives. The old mother Ina smiled and half-laughed. "They made it. They made it," she whispered for the guardians waiting anxiously on deck.

And silently to herself, "You did it, Mother Nual."

Ina could hear the former guardians shouting and celebrating and she turned back to see the couple in the ocean again, the ones who successfully cheated death. But they weren't alone. There was an ivory-skinned woman in simple flowing gown whose train pooled over the top of the ocean. The woman had red hair, long and wild like a flame. The dress, which seemed to cling, sticky on her curves, was black and maroon and crimson like it had been soaked and aged in blood. Old mothers were taught that the color of death was crimson. Ina choked and stepped back. The wisps of blackness which had until recently clung to the lover's spirits rested lightly in the incarnation of death's hands. The creature smiled and winked its eye, a viscous pool of blood. Ina could hear death herself, whispering into her brain. "They're free for now to live as they please. I'll have to take my due, sighted-one. Would you like to see? They trained you to see."

Ina could feel a sharp pain in her chest, a fire, which spread down her right arm. "I need to lie down," she whispered and pushed her way past the celebrating guardians. No one took any notice of her retreat.

The Old mother Ina never told another fortune or wrapped another poultice. She never told anyone what death showed her that day on the fetid ocean, the plan that would ultimately bring that force of nature her due. What difference did it make? If they had a day or a year or a lifetime, it didn't matter. No one needed to know death's plans.

But Ina did... Ina could see the eventual death of each face, which had ever crossed her path: a smiling toddler destined to die in childbirth at the age of sixteen, a boy with a large halibut destined to die old and gray and alone. Ina squeezed her eyes shut and she could see Yuna and Tidus. "You don't have long children. Enjoy your miracle." No Old Mother had ever seen death so clearly.

Ina pulled out a long curved dagger and carved a warning carefully into the wall next to her bed on the Solomon. The pains shooting through her chest grew stronger, but she continued to carve, the words growing less distinct as she lost control of herself. Ina dropped into her bunk and her knife clattered to the ground.

While the former guardians, and the Jenquo sailors cheered for Yuna and Tidus, Ina quietly followed her mentor, mother Nual, from the world.


	12. Epilogue

Thank you! This big thank you is for all the positive and constructive feedback you guys left. I treasure each and every comment. 

And an even bigger Thanks to my beta reader, your work made this fic far better than it would ever have been otherwise. :) 

Epilogue 

TWO WEEKS LATER 

Yuna pulled her knees up and rested her chin on them. Down the beach in front of her, Tidus was trying to teach Datto, the second best shooter on Besaid's team, how to execute the Jecht Shot. Her smile was a little wistful. There were still so many holes in his life. Sometimes Tidus would remember things, like Blitzball moves or his locker combination from Zanarkand. The things he remembered were usually technical, almost unimportant. He still couldn't remember any of her pilgrimage or even his family. She tried to return those lost things to him. She told him about their adventures, about his daring sometimes-impetuous antics. Her careful descriptions were no substitute for years of living. They just weren't the same. 

Tidus turned his brilliant blue eyes her way and smiled. Datto almost immediately knocked Tidus upside the head with a wild blitzball and they resumed their lesson. All the marks of his stay in the Al Bhed mining facility were fading. His hair was almost blonde again and there was a healthy glow back in his skin. 

"I wish you could remember it, our adventure, your life," Yuna whispered. "This is better than nothing though. This is so much better than nothing at all." Yuna laughed at herself, complaining about her miracle. "Tidus is happy. I'm happy. I won't wish for things that aren't important. I don't need anything else." 

Yuna wasn't the only one watching the Blitzball lesson. Wakka, a jumbo bag of rice seed at his feet, smiled and tried not to envy the kids their game. Yuna had her happy ending, Tidus had a life, and he had his farm. A simple happy smile crossed his face. "And the naive optimists keep racking them up." 

That elicited a snort from his right. "It can't stay this perfect. Life isn't perfect," Lulu said. Wakka nodded and turned to his friend. Her hair was piled in her signature mass of braids but she was dressed down in navy blue sundress. It's simple lines and scooped collar dripped off her curves like liquid. "So you're going out to the old homestead today?" 

"Yeah, it turns out, I won't have to wait for the ferry either. Rikku gave me her boat," Wakka said. "Outta nowhere." 

Lulu stared at the single Jenquo ship in Besaid's harbor, the Solomon. "She probably had some odd motivation." 

"So." Wakka stared at his feet for a long moment. "You want to ride out with me? It could be fun." 

Lulu hooked her arm into Wakka's. "Why not. Nothing like a trip to a deserted farm to make you appreciate city life." 

Aldon sighed and reluctantly faced the facts. It was time to leave. The Solomon had to turn a profit, and it couldn't do that sitting in Besaid. The men were ready to go, the coffers were getting low, but that had been the case a week ago and still he lingered. "Jenquo wander," Aldon hissed to himself. "They don't hang out in ports and moon over skinny Al Bhed girls." 

"I hope you didn't just call me skinny?" Rikku said. She was craning her neck from the dock and mock-scowling. "I have you know I'm quite well proportioned." 

Aldon would have blushed, if he was the type, but his dark complexion saved him from that embarrassment. "Taken up eavesdropping now, girl?" 

"I'm not a girl. I'm a full-grown woman, thank you very much. Permission to come aboard," Rikku said. She threw out another one of her sarcastic salutes and grinned. 

"If you put it that way, who am I to refuse a full-grown woman permission for anything?" Aldon said. 

Once Rikku was on board she seemed a little nervous. Aldon was too close. She could smell him spice and sweat. "I need your help." 

"Really? Do tell," Aldon said. He didn't even try to contain the grin that split his face. This spitfire belonged at sea. She was wasted on a town like Besaid. 

"Remember that horrible mine? It has to do with that. I wanted my dad to implement some official guidelines for those operations, to protect the ocean and the miners, but he couldn't," Rikku said. 

Aldon frowned. "Why couldn't he? I thought he was your leader?" 

"Technicality. The guidelines already existed. We just haven't been able to enforce them, stretched too thin and all that." Rikku pulled a printout from behind her back and offered it to Aldon. He came closer to examine the contract and Rikku shivered when their hands brushed. What was wrong with her? "It's a contract, hiring the Solomon and her crew as Al Bhed enforcement officers, under my supervision of course. The Al Bhed would provide the training and weapons, and your whole crew would be on payroll." 

Aldon leaned in close, very aware of Rikku's discomposure. "I think it's a wonderful idea."

* * *

Below deck, scrawled unnoticed and unread on the wall, Old Mother Ina's last bit of warning went unheeded. 

Life went on. 

_On Cheating Death _

Death is a beautiful mistress  
She offers rest and peace 

Death is a silent warden  
Her charges, souls she keeps 

To steal from death is folly  
Cheating her is a sin 

You may succeed for a moment  
But in the end she always wins 

Ina 

The End - This resurection fic is officially over :) 

That's all folks. Any Comments? Criticisms? Let me know. 

One Final Note: A chapter 12 exists. The reason it never made it to my beta reader? It pushed the story past the ending I found with 11... with no end in sight from 12. Anything could have happened... Who knows when another ending would have presented itself. I'm happy with the story as is and I hope some of my fellow FF10 fans enjoyed it as well :) 

Peace, Love, and Lolipops to you all:) :) 


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